


The Choice

by moonstalker24



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Derek Hale/Scott MCall - Freeform, Erica Reyes/Vernon Boyd - Freeform, F/M, Female Stiles Stilinski, Fluffy, Gen, Genderbend, Human Scott McCall, Isaac Lahey/Jackson Whittemore - Freeform, M/M, Melissa McCall/Sheriff Stilinski - Freeform, Pack Feels, Pack Mother Stiles Stilinski, Steter - Freeform, Stilinski Family Feels, Time Travel, Werewolf Stiles Stilinski, background pairing include but not limited to, drama in the background but mostly fluffy, happy endings all around, i dunno maybe it isnt, i think, idek what i'm doing, s1 au, twist ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-15
Updated: 2014-07-16
Packaged: 2018-01-08 20:11:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 92
Words: 143,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1136873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonstalker24/pseuds/moonstalker24
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You will be changed, Goscislaw Genim Stilinski. From your bones you will be changed.”<br/>“How.”<br/>“That we cannot tell you… That is the price.”</p><p>He's made the deal, now he only has fifteen minutes to make a choice and either save or condemn them all. Fifteen minutes and then Stiles will have to live with the consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

 

 

**_One_ :**

_“Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.”_

_~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer ~_

    There was a horrifyingly nauseating moment of confusion. The world shifted around him and blurred. The three figures draped in long dark robes winked out of sight and Stiles had the disorienting feeling that he was being shoved into something too small, only he wasn’t moving. He clawed vaguely at his chest for a second, breathing laboured as he tried to gain his bearings.

“Dude, are you okay?”

Stiles’ head canted to the side and Scott came into focus. Dear, sweet, dopey Scott with his awkward jawline and massive puppy eyes. Stiles blinked rapidly as a vision of Scott torn apart, bloody and broken and so very, very dead imposed itself over this much younger version. Stiles jerked and looked around wildly.

It was dark and they were in the Beacon Hills Preserve. Breaking through the treeline were flashlights and he could hear dogs barking. Scott looked like he was going to panic.

Oh. _Oh_.

Right. That had been part of the deal. The deal he had just finished making. An exchange of sorts. They had the power to help him fix everything that had gone wrong in the past three years. The deal was that they would send him back in time to a critical point. A point where he would have to make a choice and change their fates. If he made the right choice everyone would be happy and probably live. If he made the wrong choice they would all die horribly, bloody, messy deaths one by one until only Stiles was left broken and bruised.

Stiles heaved in another breath. Holy shit. He looked around wildly. _Holy shit_. This was the night Scott had been bitten!

“Stiles!”

“Dude!” Stiles squeaked out, thinking wildly. He had a choice to make… and he only had fifteen minutes. That was the deal. The consequences. Stiles had exactly fifteen minutes to make a choice to change the future before he _forgot everything_ and was just Stiles the teenager again; bound to live with the consequences of his choice.

_“You will be changed, Goscislaw Genim Stilinski. From your bones you will be changed.”_

_“How.”_

_“That we cannot tell you… That is the price.”_

Stiles had taken the price. He wouldn’t remember anything was different anyway, so what was the point?

“What do we do?!” Scott hissed, starting to panic.

Clarity suddenly came to him. This was his choice. He hadn’t thought it would be this one. To choose to let Scott be bitten by Peter, or to rearrange things so that _Stiles_ was the one that was bitten. Stiles didn’t want to be a werewolf. Had lost the desire for the bite shortly after Kate Argent was killed… but he knew. If Scott was bitten (sweet, kind, bumbling Scott), then things would go as they had the first time. If it was Stiles things could go the same, they could be _worse_ or they _could be better_.

And that was the punchline, wasn’t it?

“We have to run” Stiles hissed. “If my Dad catches me out here he’ll take away my jeep and ground me for six months.”

Scott stared at him with a panicky expression on his face. “I dropped my inhaler” he moaned. “You go and I’ll distract them!”

“How?!” Stiles demanded. (Now there was a best-bud if ever there was one.)

“I-I don’t know!”

Thinking quickly, knowing he was running out of time Stiles said “We were out here a couple days ago!”

“What? No we weren’t.”

Stiles rolled his eyes “We were out here a couple days ago, you lost your inhaler and you’re out here looking for because your Mom will kill you if you lose another one!”

“Oh! Won’t your Dad ask me where you are?”

“I couldn’t come ‘cause I’m still on probation from the water balloon thing last week.”

“Got it. Go!”

So Stiles turned heel and ran away. He ran away from Scott and from his father. The father that had caught him out here last time and had wrangled him back to his jeep by the scruff of his sweatshirt.

His toe caught a log and he careened forward and rolled down the slope of a small, but rather steep, hill. (he never claimed to be a medalist in the graceful olympics) When he rolled to a halt he groaned at the bruises he would have in the morning and got to his hands and knees just in time to yelp and cower as several deer burst through the treeline in terror and crashed over his head into the underbrush.

Stiles scrambled around in the dirt for a minute, trying to crawl away. Then his hand came in contact with something that was definitely _not_ the ground. He froze in horror. His eyes crawled up the torso and stared into the wide open, very dead eyes of Laura Hale. Even after all this time, dead bodies still made him want to gag.

Stiles threw himself backward away from the body and dry heaved into a small scrubby bush. He wiped the back of his mouth with his hand and registered the sound. _Holy shit_ that was _Peter_. He turned slowly and met the gleaming red eyes in the bushes. The growling reached a crescendo and the gigantic black frame of Peter Hale rushed toward him. In the blink of an eye Stiles was on his back, the Alpha’s teeth clamped around his side. Stiles screamed.

And his memories of the future began to fade.

 

\- - -

Somewhere in the back of his brain, in the part that was still human, Peter wondered what he was thinking of, biting this tiny slip of a thing. The Alpha in him was screaming though. Pack. He needed a _pack_. A pack to stabilize the crazed Alpha so that all the damage could be healed.

This was a crime of opportunity. This tiny thing was in the wrong place at the wrong time and Peter took advantage. As his teeth sank into soft flesh he knew he would build a strong pack. One not to be challenged. He would get his revenge against that Argent bitch. It would all start here, tonight.

He had followed the terrified deer for the thrill of the chase. Had hunted until he had come back around to Laura’s savaged corpse. Then there she was. A fragile, ivory skinned thing trying to get away from the body as quickly as she could.

As she threw up in the bushes her scent reached him. Past the sour smell of sick something subtle and sweet like hibiscus and the tang of fresh rain curled around him. A punch of something like want hit him in the gut. He was moving as soon as her wide honey eyes met his.

His teeth sank into her side and he stood over her. He was aware of the high, pained scream she loosed. Then he inhaled her scent again, taking in a deeper lungful. She smelled wild and reckless yet still sweet and he knew. She was his whether she wanted to be or not.

The growl rumbling in his ribcage stopped for a moment as he jerked in surprise. The girl moaned in pain, but her grip never loosened. Her hand. Her hand had reached up and curled itself into the fur around his shoulder. Electricity shot through him and his teeth loosened. Her hand flexed in response.

Slowly. Carefully, Peter lowered his catch to the ground. She lay there panting, whining with pain and Peter’s ears flattened back. He _did not like_ her in pain. He licked at the bite and she whimpered. He huffed and slowly, carefully lay on the ground next to her. He curled protectively around his new beta, keeping the cold from reaching her.

Even as she slipped into unconsciousness, her grip in his fur never loosened. **  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steter because you can never have enough Steter fic.
> 
> This was started as a challenge to myself to get me writing again. I basically opened up a .doc and started typing. I have no idea where this fic is going. I just know it's Steter.
> 
> Huge, massive thanks to the amazing AvengingPhoenix who has been holding my hand through the whole thing and cheering me on.
> 
> My title sucks, but I couldn't think of anything else. Meh.


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles wakes up different than before. Peter is different than before. Conversations and naked werewolves.

 

_**Two:** _

_“Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones.”_

_~ Phillip Brooks ~_

    It was cold. The air was cold, but she was warm. Stiles blinked her eyes open groggily and stared up at the trees that were just beginning to take shape in the false light of pre-dawn. The air was cold because she was outside. At this thought everything came rushing back to her just as she became aware of the hot puffs of air rustling the short hairs just behind her ear.

She turned her head and her body seized up as terror gripped her.

She was warm because there was a gigantic black wolf _thing_ wrapped around her. A throbbing pain in her side made her gasp. This thing had _bitten_ her. Sunk its massive fangs into her skin and she had been sure she was going to die.

As the fuzziness left her, the pain worsened and she whimpered, her grip in the beast’s fur tightening in reaction. Wait. Why was she holding onto this monster? She had grabbed onto it in reflex last night, but why was she still gripping a fistful of fur so tightly?

A change in the breathing on her neck made her freeze and her eyes flicked up and widened. _It was awake_. It lifted its massive head and looked down at her with bright ruby eyes and then pressed its nose into her cheek and took in a deep breath. Stiles squeaked in surprise and closed her eyes. (cold nose, cold nose, _cold nose_!) Suddenly the fur in her hand began to recede until she had a handful of what felt like very muscular shoulder in her hand. Her eyes popped open in surprise. She gulped.

Leaning over her, looking at her with intelligent, curious blue eyes was a man. Brown hair curled around the nape of his neck, just at that point of desperately needing a haircut or committing to a ponytail. Burn scars covered the right side of his face. Her eyes traveled down to his naked chest and shoulders and she yelped and pulled away from the very ( _very_ ) naked man hovering over her.

The movement was aborted as her side screamed with pain in protest of the abrupt movement. Stiles whimpered and clutched at her side, tears springing to her eyes. Warm arms enveloped her and she was pulled close into a muscular chest.

“Shhhh…”

Stiles stared wide eyed at the patch of collarbone and shoulder she could see. She watched as the veins in his arm went black. The pain in her side eased and faded to the dull ache of a bad bruise… He was _taking her pain_.

“W-who are you?” she whispered, voice so low she wasn’t sure if her heard her. “What are you?”

His fingers wove into the short strands of her dark hair and she could feel the vibration as he replied: “I’m your Alpha.”

“Alpha what?”

“Werewolf.”

Stiles’ mind took that word and ran with it. Suddenly she was remembering bits and pieces of lore and movies and memorably a book she’d once checked out of the library on wolves. Werewolves. According to popular media one became a werewolf via a bite. Check. By a werewolf. Check. (because let’s face it, this dude certainly hadn’t been human when he’d bitten her. He’d been about as cuddly as cactus.)

“Holy _shit_.” she muttered. “Am I going to turn into one?”

“You are already changing, little one” came the rumbled response.

“Why?”

“I need a pack.”

She pulled away enough to look up at him. (she was woman enough to admit that this guy was very definitely good looking.) “Wh - “

“I will answer all of your questions, but now isn’t the time for that.”

“It isn’t?” She kind of thought it was. Y’know considering that she’d been _bitten by a werewolf!_

“It’s very early, we should get you home.” he offered.

“Oh no. My Dad!” Stiles scrambled to her feet, the man following as she went until they were both standing. “If I get caught out like this he’s gonna kill me!”

“Which way?”

Stiles took a long moment to orient herself, studiously avoiding looking at the half a corpse lying fifteen feet away. “That way” she pointed.

The man nodded and began to lead her in the direction of her jeep. She stumbled along next to him and she wondered if this was what going mad felt like.

“I’m Stiles.”

“Peter.”

“You’re naked.” Peter looked at her, an amused gleam in his eyes as she looked up at him wide-eyed. “Very, _very_ naked.”

 

\- - -

    Oh he liked this girl. She was extremely intelligent and fast thinking. She seemed to be dealing with what was happening fairly well. After she had pointed out that he was naked (she seemed to think that this was very important) she had bombarded him with questions. Lots of questions. They were intelligent questions, but they came out rapidfire and interspersed between ramblings about how she was dead, (Her father (the _Sheriff_ ) was going to skin her for being out all night.) and comments about how Peter was _still naked_.

Finally they broke through the treeline and Stiles led him over to an old blue jeep. She opened the driver’s door and paused before getting in. She turned to him and shifted her feet “The bite - “

“Will heal by tonight” Peter said. If the bite was going to kill her she would have died sometime in the night. He gently lifted her chin to gaze into her eyes. “This will not be easy, but you are not alone.”

She gazed at him, searching for something. After a long moment where the only sounds were the leaves in the trees and their breathing she spoke. “No, I’m not am I.”

Peter shook his head and slid his hand around to cradle the side of her head. “No.”

“I believe you” she told him softly. “I’m not alone. I have my Alpha.”

For a moment every fibre of Peter’s being sang as Stiles embraced what was happening. He could feel the bond between them falling into place, strong and true. A good solid pack bond. He inhaled her scent again and smiled at her. She smiled back up at him and curled up into the embrace he pulled her into.

He helped her up into her jeep and shut the door. She buckled her seatbelt and the engine roared to life. She rolled down her window squeakily and said “Hey Peter?”

“Yes Stiles?”

“ _Clothes_.” she said emphatically, and then she drove away.

Peter watched the jeep disappear and then he changed, the giant black beast taking the place of the man. As he dashed into the brush toward Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital the light of dawn crept into the trees.

Birdsong rose into the sky. **  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *wears Steter t-shirt as I hide in the bushes*


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stilinkski Family Feels featuring Researching!Stiles and Sleep depreived!Stilinskis.

_**Three:** _

_“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.”_

_~ Arthur C. Clarke ~_

    The cruiser wasn’t in the driveway when Stiles pulled into it half an hour later. She heaved a sigh of relief. Thank goodness for small favors. She carefully climbed down out of her jeep and made her way to the door. She leaned her back on it after it clicked softly shut behind her and took a moment to breathe.

Slowly she made her way upstairs and into the shower. It was here that the quiet calm of stunned shock wore off and the panic crept in around the edges of her awareness. She slid down the wall of the shower as the panic attack settled into her bones like an old friend. She sat there, heaving in shallow breaths, crying as the water raining down onto her back slowly went from hot to lukewarm.

Eventually it ended. Stiles sat in the tub for a few minutes, numb. Then the cold water had her fumbling for the knob and crawling out of the tub to wrap herself in a towel.

Her mind began to process everything as she got dressed in the warmest, comfiest clothes she could find (sweats and one of her Dad’s Sheriff’s Dept t-shirts). She brushed her teeth and took her adderall and sat down in front of her computer with determination. As exhaustion crept around her like an unhappy cat, Stiles opened her browser (the first tab of many) and got to work.

It wasn’t the first time Stiles had pulled an all nighter researching some insane topic. It wouldn’t be the last. Her printer printed and tabs were opened and closed. She saw way too much fanfiction than she preferred and some really scarring porn before she felt she had any kind of true inkling about werewolves. Between what Peter had told her and what she had managed to find this was either going to be completely badass and awesome or it was going to suck like being sat on by a mountain troll.

She was hoping for the former.

She tried to look up Peter between werewolf sites but she didn’t know his last name. Grasping at straws she decided she needed more information if she was going to find anything out about him. He had promised to be there for her first full moon on friday. She could ask him then.

Stiles winced and clicked the tab she was on after the sounds blasted out of the speakers. Then she carefully erased her browser history.

\- - -

    Sheriff Jeorek Stilinski knew his daughter. He knew her little quirks and idiosyncrasies. He had watched her go from a babe in arms to a toddler so full of life and energy that he and Claudia had fallen into bed each night exhausted. From the first time she brought little Scott McCall home with her covered in mud to the time she punched Jackson Whittemore in the face for making fun of her best friend in the sixth grade, he knew her.

When her mother died when Stiles was twelve Jeorek hadn’t known what to do. He was heartbroken and tired and he had a little girl who missed her mama. A little girl who was so sad and missed her so much she started having panic attacks. That had been a hard time for both of them. Jeorek had nearly lost himself in the bottle. If it hadn’t been for Stiles he probably would have.

His relationship with his daughter was the end all and be all of his world. If that meant he had to put up with her shoes winding up in random places all over the house and the disgustingly healthy food she made him eat, then so be it.

One of his favorite things to do was wake his child when he knew she’d been up all night doing something. When she was really tired, Stiles could fall asleep anywhere, and she did it in the strangest positions. He had a lot of pictures from over the years of his daughter sleeping face down with her butt in the air in her bed.

This morning when he walked into her room he found her in her desk chair (sort of). Her back was on the floor, arms spread akimbo, her legs up on the seat of the chair. The printer was spitting out page after page, each one floating down to the ground to coat his only child in a blanket of white.

“Stiles.”

Stiles snorted and abruptly stopped drooling into the carpet.

“Stiles!” Jeorek barked.

Stiles shot upright, or tried to. In her flailing attempt the desk chair shot sideways and crashed into the wall, falling onto its side. Stiles eventually sat up, staring at her father, a sheet of paper stuck to the side of her face (adhered by the glue of her drool).

“Whahuh?” she mumbled.

The Sheriff sighed and walked into the room, crouched down and peeled the paper off his child’s face. “You’re going to be late for school there my Jitterbug.”

“Papa?” Stiles asked, then pitched forward into his side. Jeorek tipped himself into a sitting position and pulled his daughter close.

“Looks like we both pulled an all nighter” Jeorek said. “What’er you workin’ on, huh Jitterbug?”

Stiles blushed as he picked up a sheet of paper. His eyebrows crawled toward his hairline. “Werewolves? Really Stiles?”

She shrugged. Jeorek sighed “Go to school, okay?”

“Ok” she said “You going to sleep?”

“Yeah, I need a few hours before I go back in.”

“It’s bad isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

Father and daughter sat there for a few minutes in companionable silence.

“Is Scott in a lot of trouble?” Stiles asked.

Jeorek sighed in exasperation. Several years ago Stiles and Scott had gotten it into their heads that they were adopting each other as brother and sister. Jeorek had found himself fathering after two kids and Melissa McCall had found herself mothering two kids.

“He’s grounded.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes.” He’d grounded the boy himself, of course he was sure.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes.

“Go to school.”

“Go to sleep.”

The Stilinski’s heaved themselves to their feet and the Sheriff pressed a kiss to his daughter’s forehead. “I want my shirt back.”

“No can do Papa-mine.”

“Go to school.”

They shared a smile and the Sheriff made his way to the door as Stiles moved to get ready for school.

“Love you, kid.”

“Love you too, Papa.”

\- - -

“Dude, what happened? My Dad said he grounded you!”

“I am grounded. Your Dad said a week, but Mom added a second one because I got dragged home in a police cruiser!” Scott whined.

“So what happened?”

“I lost my inhaler.”

“What? Seriously?”

“We have to go back. Mom really will kill me if I lose another one.”

Stiles sat back in her seat as class started and shook her head. There had been this strange sort of buzzing in the back of her head for the last hour. She canted her head to one side, puzzled. What...

_“...Everything except a pen. Oh crap, I didn’t actually forget a pen!”_

_“Don’t panic. I’m sure you can borrow one from someone.”_

_“Okay. Okay. I gotta go, love you.”_

… The hell? She looked around in confusion before realizing that the conversation wasn’t in the room. Her brow scrunched up before she remember Peter telling her about how her senses would be increasing as the transformation took effect. From what she had read she could hear things as far as a half mile away if she concentrated really hard.

Stiles resolved to test her limits later.

A few minutes later the door of the classroom opened to admit a tall, pretty dark haired girl. Stiles watched Scott go all googly eyed and she grinned to herself. She leaned sideways while the teacher was speaking with the principal. “Psst!”

“What?” Scott asked.

“A pen.”

“What about a pen?”

“Offer her a pen! New school, maybe she forgot to bring one!”

Scott didn’t reply as the newly introduced Allison Argent drifted their way and sat down in front of Scott with a nervous smile. Scott fumbled with his backpack for a minute before he leaned forward and timidly tapped the girl on the shoulder with the pen in his hand. Allison turned and looked at the pen in surprise. Then her gaze moved to the boy holding it. Scott smiled sheepishly.

Stiles smiled to herself and gave herself a mental pat on the back, then she went back to trying to control her ears. **  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papa Stilinski is all kinds of bamf. I am in his fanclub.
> 
> Also Jeorek is Polish and means 'Manly', which I thought fit the Sheriff.  
> And Stiles' Goscislaw is also Polish and means 'to build + glory'. - I saw it in a thanksgiving Sterek fic and really liked it so I'm using it here. It also has a feminine version of Goscislawa.


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott waxes poetic. Derek is Grumpy McGrumpypants. Peter tells an unhappy tale. Reese's Pieces fly through the air.

 

**_Four:_ **

_“A man can’t be too careful in the choice of his enemies.”_

_~ Oscar Wilde ~_

    “Are you sure you dropped it out here?” Stiles questioned as she and Scott tramped through the underbrush.

“I’m sure” Scott said. He still looked giddy over his interaction with the new girl. “She talked to me after practice!”

“I know. I was there.”

“She’s really pretty, don’t you think she’s pretty?”

Stiles sighed and resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her best friend. He’d waxed poetic about Allison Argent’s skin and hair and eyes all the way from the school to here. Nothing but Allison this and Allison that for the last hour. She studiously scanned the ground around them for Scott’s inhaler, subtly trying to use her new sense of smell to suss out where it was.

“...and she made friends with Lydia and she was still nice to me!”

“That’s nice Scott” Stiles said. A lot of people tended to think that Stiles was in love with Lydia Martin. Stiles thought it was funny because what she was in love with was Lydia’s taste in shoes and her ability to wear heels and a skirt with ease. That and they had a friendly (okay, not so friendly) competition going over having the school’s highest GPA.

“...and she -” Scott stopped talking and Stiles looked up just in time to walk right into his back.

“Scott?”

“This is private property.”

Stiles straightened at the strange new voice and poked her head around Scott’s shoulder. Well hello tall, dark and broody. Wait a second…

“You shouldn’t be here” Eyebrows said. “Leave.”

“We were just looking for my inhaler…” Scott trailed off uncertainly.

Stiles stepped out from behind Scott, catching the guy’s attention. He glared at her and she tried not to squirm. Yep that was Derek Hale alright, or she’d be a monkey’s uncle.

Suddenly Derek Hale’s hand snapped out and a small white object flew through the air. Scott fumbled to catch it. It bounced out of his reach and Stiles caught it. Amazed that she had she wasn’t aware of Scott lunging after his escaping inhaler until after they had collided and fallen to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

Why couldn’t she be a graceful werewolf? But nooo, she had to be the Stiles version of a werewolf. Which meant being all knees and elbows with some super-strength added for flavour. (she’d opened the pickle jar all by herself this morning.)

The two friends started a friendly argument as they tried to untangle themselves. After a few moments both of them were hauled up to their feet by the backs of their jackets.

“I said, leave” Derek grouched gruffly.

“We’re going!” Stiles yelped. She yanked herself out of Derek’s grip.

“Good.” Then he vanished.

“Now that’s a super power” Stiles griped. “One second there and then poof, invisible.”

“Who was that guy?”

“You don’t know?” Stiles asked, but then decided her incredulity was unfounded. This was Scott after all. “Dude, that was Derek Hale!”

“So?”

Stiles rolled her eyes and tugged on Scott’s arm, “C’mon, let’s go.”

 

\- - -

Derek watched the girl lead the boy off from behind a tree. There was something about her. Something off. She would bear watching. There was something more going on here than just some rogue Alpha.He could feel it.

“Do you think she’d go with me to Lydia’s party?”

“Don’t know unless you ask her.”

“Yeah, but do you think she would.”

“Aren’t you grounded?”

“Oh, yeah.”

Derek listened to them as they crashed through the underbrush (the boy mostly). Then his attention shifted and his frown deepened.

He had finally found Laura.

\- - -

    Stiles was curled up in bed, her laptop open and her blanket draped over an old broom handle wedged between the headboard and the mattress like a tent. This last weeks episode of The Walking Dead was playing across the screen, but Stiles wasn’t paying much attention. She was wrapped around a pillow dozing off.

Her eyes blinked open. Was that her window? On the screen zombies were being killed, and between that and the sudden wariness coursing through her, it wasn’t her fault that when her little blanket fort was pulled open to reveal Peter peering in at her, that she shrieked and threw her pillow at him. The broom handle tilted and the blanket fort crumbled. Stiles and her laptop crashed to the ground on the opposite side of the bed in a heap of blankets. Reese’s Pieces flew through the air in a rainbow of yellow, orange and brown.

“Holy crap on a cracker!” Stiles yelped “Don’t do that!”

Peter shrugged and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Sorry.”

“Yeah, I bet.” Stiles muttered as she untangled herself from the blankets. “What are you doing here?”

“I thought you might like the opportunity to talk more, as the full moon is tomorrow.”

Stiles nodded and climbed back up onto the bed. She gazed at Peter for a moment; at least he was wearing clothes this time. The wolf that was curled up in the back of her mind unfurled a little at the presence of her Alpha. She wanted to curl up next to him, but she wasn’t sure that was the best idea ever.

“I only really have one question left. Well, I’ve got lots of questions, but only one really super important one.”

“Ask” Peter prompted.

“Why? Why are you doing all of this.”

“Oh my dear girl” Peter sighed. “For revenge of course.”

 

\- - -

Stiles’ eyes widened. Peter sighed, he had known she would ask. “It’s a very long story.”

“I’m not going anywhere” she prompted.

She deserved to know what he had dragged her into. Of course she did. Peter held out a hand to her and she took it. He pulled her to him and she tucked herself into his side. He watched her collect scattered Reese’s Pieces (pity, that) for a moment while he collected his thoughts.

“It began when my nephew met a woman. She was older than him and quite beautiful. And she was interested in him, so it made him vulnerable I suppose.”

As he began to weave a tale of manipulation and murder he pulled her closer. Stiles tucked her head in under his chin and his hand slipped under her shirt to rest on her bare belly.

This young, newly made werewolf trusted him with every fibre of her being. As he told her about Kate Argent and the fire and what had happened he resolved to take care of her. If he had his way Stiles would not have to kill anyone in his quest for revenge. Looking down at her now Peter was beginning to see what the wolf inside him already knew. Stiles was not a means to an end. Not a way to ensure that he got his vengeance.

She was his future. She was the bright beacon of the life he could build after Kate was dead.

As his tale wound down Stiles said softly “An Argent started at my school today.”

Peter’s eyes narrowed “So they’re back.”

“I-I can’t kill anyone, Peter.”

“No.” Peter took her face in his hands and made her look into his eyes “I don’t expect you to.”

“What do you expect?”

“You are here to bring me stability. I will have my revenge and we will build a good, strong pack. You are not my weapon, Stiles.”

“Then what am I?” sh questioned. “Because I’m starting think that’s what it is. And I can’t do. I won’t.”

“You are my hope for the future” Peter offered. “Is that good enough for now?”

“I guess it’ll have to be.” She settled back down into his side. “I have to tell my Dad.”

“Stiles, our survival depends on secrecy.”

“I can’t lie to my Dad. Or Scott. I won’t.”

“You’ll put them in danger if you tell them.”

“They’re already in danger just for being mine, aren’t they?”

She had a point. Peter sighed, “All right; but not until after your first full moon.”

“Deal. Full moon first, telling my Dad later.”

Stiles pulled her laptop back up on the bed and restarted the episode. As she sank into Peter’s side to watch Peter watched her. Perhaps having the Sheriff in the know wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Maybe if they knew his little pack could grow. Humans could be very vital to a pack, he knew.

He wondered for a moment if perhaps instead of revenge the Sheriff might help him find justice. He kind of liked the idea of those responsible for the fire being locked up for the rest of their lives… But Kate. Kate would die. She would die by Peter’s hand  and his hand alone. She had sealed her fate the moment she had struck the match.

“By the way” Stiles murmured as she began to fall asleep in his embrace, “Derek is back.”

Peter started and looked down just in time for her to start drooling on his chest. **  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Steter feels. Not sure how in character this one is. But It moves the plot along.
> 
> Grumpy season one Derek is hard to write.
> 
> Also, it is 5am here, so I blame spelling and grammar errors on tiredness. I'm going to bed.


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night of the full moon arrives, and so do the hunters.

  _ **Five:**_

 

_“However long the night, the dawn will break.”_

_~ African Proverb ~_

    “So, I was thinking that since I’m grounded you could come over and hang out tonight.”

Stiles’ nose scrunched up and she stared at Scott over the top of her sandwich. “I can’t, you’re grounded, dude.”

“Mom didn’t say no Stiles!” Scott protested, chips spraying from his mouth with his vehemence.

“You know if I come over she’s just going to send me home.”

“No she won’t. She’ll feed you first!”

Okay, that was true. Stiles and Scott stared at each other for a few moments as Stiles tried to think of a convincing lie and Scott turned the puppy eyes up to eleven. Stiles shifted in her seat. She didn’t like lying. She could, she just didn’t like lying to the people that mattered to her.

“I really can’t Scott.”

“Why not?”

“I - I have a thing.”

Scott narrowed his eyes at her and then set down his bag of chips. “Something happened didn’t it? Out in the woods the other night.”

“I… Yes.”

“You found the body didn’t you?!” Scott demanded.

“Shhh!” Stiles hissed “Yes, but that’s not why I can’t come over.”

“Something else happened, didn’t it?”

This was why Stiles was friends with this boy. He was sweet and caring and a little doofy, but he had these moments where he was just insightful and sort of wise. She nodded.

“What?” Scott asked.

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why not? We tell each other everything.”

Stiles leaned forward prompting Scott to lean forward to until their heads were very close together. “I can’t tell you yet. Can you wait until Saturday?”

“This is important, isn’t it?”

“Life altering” Stiles confirmed. “Please understand.”

“You really want to tell me, huh?”

“YES!” Stiles nearly threw her sandwich in her flailing, “I just can’t right now.”

“Promise me right now you’ll tell me on Saturday” Scott demanded.

“I promise.”

“Swear it on our pact.”

Stiles lifted her left hand into the air and placed her right over her heart. “I, Stiles Stilinski, swear upon our sibling pact that I will tell my soul-brother everything come Saturday morning. If I don’t may my toenails become ingrown and all my teeth fall out.”

“Good” Scott nodded, and they both sat back in their seats.

The pair ate in silence for a moment until a large tomato slice plopped down onto the table in front of Stiles. She looked at it in confusion for a second before looking up and behind her. Danny Mahealani was standing next to their table looking disgruntled.

“This is yours I believe” Danny said.

Stiles blushed as realisation overtook her. She looked down at the sandwich in her hand and found that it was suspiciously tomatoless. She looked back up at Danny, horrified. He had a couple of tomato seeds stuck to his shirt and a wet round spot.

“Oh, man. Danny I am so sorry!”

 

\- - -

    Running through the trees in the cool night air filled Stiles with a sense of exhilaration. Everything was amplified. Sight, sound, touch. As she ran she could tell exactly where the massive form of her Alpha was at all times as he made circuits around the running beta. The full moon hung high overhead, and Stiles knew that this was something she could definitely live with.

She let out a happy little barking howl and grinned as she heard Peter’s responding bark. She bounded up and over some rocks intent on catching her Alpha. From the corner of her eye she saw a dark shape loom up. She turned and whatever it was slammed into her side. Stiles crashed to the ground in a snarling heap of tangled limbs.

The wolf that hit her snarled back. They scrambled at each other for a few minutes, Stiles trying to get away, the other dragging her back. Clothes tore and claw marks appeared and Stiles snarled up at the bigger werewolf.

Derek Hale snarled back at her, eyes flashing electric blue. Stiles’ own eyes flashed bright amber and she raked her claws down the side of his face. He howled and she took the opportunity to crawl out from under him toward the rocks. When she glanced back, Derek was crouched on the ground growling loudly at her.

Then came the rumbling. The deep bass growl sang through Stiles. A calm settled into her bones. She stopped crawling and turned to face the threat as Peter come over the rocks. In one quick bound he had Derek pinned to the forest floor and was roaring in his face. Not a regular roar or howl, but the long deep howl of an Alpha.

Derek cowered, even Stiles flinched.

Deep down she knew that there was a part of Peter that was broken. The fire that had taken his family had taken a piece of him as well. That piece made him crazy. Could and probably would turn him into a psychopathic killer as the wind changed. However, that same piece of her that knew he was crazed also knew that he would never hurt her.

Maybe that made her crazy.

As she watched her Alpha roar Derek into submission she realized that two days ago Peter would have probably ripped his nephew limb from limb in his insane state. He had answered enough of her questions for her to know that her acceptance of him as her Alpha, the presence of a solid pack bond was helping to stabilize and heal him. He was still insane, but that part of his brain that had been damaged in the fire was healing. There would always be something there, lurking in the dark of his being, but he would be a good Alpha.

The roar subsided and Derek lay there whimpering, belly up. The monstrosity that was Peter leaned over him and breathed in deeply. He turned his head slightly to see her and chuffed inquisitively.

“I’m okay” Stiles said softly and raised her arm to show the cuts that were already visibly healing. “See, already healing.”

He turned back to Derek and forced his back into the ground. Derek grunted at the force of it “Have you lost your mind?!”

“You attacked me, remember?” Stiles snarked back, safe in the knowledge that he wasn’t going anywhere.

“You smell like him!”

“Yes. I don’t know if you noticed, but I am running with him.”

“He killed Laura!”

“Yes. Just like he’d have killed anyone that came across him when she did.”

Derek felt the urge to submit to this strange Alpha. He resisted as best he could. “Murderer!”

“Don’t!”

Derek’s eyes flashed back to the girl. She was new, less than a week old if he guessed. He could smell the blood on her yesterday out where he’d found Laura. Freshly bitten. He’d known she would bear watching, but he’d been concentrating on his sister. On her corpse to really make an observation.

He was just so angry.

“He’s a monster” he spat at her.

She snarled back at him, crouching, ready to pounce. “He’s _my_ Alpha.”

Derek stilled for a moment, pinned beneath the giant werewolf, staring at the girl he had run off his property only the day before. He knew that this was the monster that had killed his sister, he recognized the scent.

“Peter - “ Stiles inched a little closer to the two wolves, reaching a hand out.

“Wha - ?” Derek looked up at the Alpha. Red eyes stared into blue. “Peter?” he asked uncertainly.

There was a pause wherein the whole world seemed to slow and hold its breath. Then he began to shift. Fur and muscle and sinew shifted; bones cracked back into human shape. Peter Hale crouched over his nephew, one hand pinning him to ground, the other raised; claws prepared to strike.

“Uncle Peter?” Derek asked softly. He stared up at the man only three years his senior with wide eyes. He took in the fading scars marring Peter’s right side. He breathed in his scent and old memories of his uncle began to surface. “You killed Laura?”

Peter’s eyes closed and he let go of Derek. He backed off a few feet, crouching in the undergrowth, head down. Derek leaned up on his elbows, eyes tracking Peter’s movements.

“Why?”

Peter’s back heaved in a sigh. He looked up at Derek “I didn’t recognize her.”

“What?”

“The fire did a lot of damage Derek. My nurse has been letting me out of my room on the full moons. When Laura stumbled across me I was out of my mind. Running on pure instinct. I didn’t recognize her. All I could see was a strange Alpha in my territory.”

“But it was Laura.” Derek half-snarled.”You’ve known her all your life.”

Before Peter could respond Stiles screamed in pain. Both older werewolves spun just in time to see her collapse to the ground, clutching her side in pain. Peter was across the clearing in seconds, pulling her up and into his arms. Derek followed.

“It hurts” Stiles whimpered, clutching at Peter’s arm.

Derek examined the wound. A large crossbow bolt  was sticking through Stiles’ side. “Hunters.”

Peter let out a dark growl, “Hunters.”

“No, what are you doing?!” Stiles squeaked, leaning away from Derek.

Derek huffed, starting to feel annoyed “We have to take it out.”

“I need a hospital!” Stiles’ voice rose incredulously.

“He’s right, Goscislawa, it must be removed.” Stiles whined and looked up at Peter. Later she would marvel at how well he’d pronounced her given name. Peter met her gaze “You will heal. Derek pull it out. Quickly. We have to go.”

Derek nodded and reached forward, grasping the shaft of the bolt in his hand. He braced the other on Stiles’ hip and met her eyes. She nodded and Derek yanked. Stiles bit back a scream.

 

\- - -

    Christopher Argent had hunted werewolves all his life. He was proficient in both large and small arms. He could use both modern and ancient weaponry. He was trained in several forms of hand to hand combat. He had near perfect aim and he was very proud of that fact.

So when his shot went astray and only clipped the smallest of the three werewolves in the clearing he frowned to himself.

The small one screeched and collapsed and the other two were on it in moments. The way they crowded the little one told Chris that this was a new wolf. Probably in its first full moon.

He lowered the crossbow from its place braced against his shoulder; watching the little huddle of wolves. The two men he’d brought with him moved to cut off the small pack’s retreat. Before they made it even twenty feet the little wolf was being hauled up into the arms of the naked (?) one and the wolves bolted.

As he watched them flee through the trees Chris realized that this might be a little more complicated than he thought. The mysterious death of the girl torn in half and the strange animal sightings these last few months were what had drawn Chris back to Beacon Hills.

He had not been aware that there was a pack here. This would complicate matters. Not only did he now have to track down a rogue omega terrorizing the local wildlife (and graduating to human prey), but now he had to look into a pack to make sure they weren’t the ones killing people.

Chris sighed as his men returned for instructions. “Let’s head back. We won’t find them again. Not tonight.”

“Yes, sir.” **  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I really don't know where this is going. This chapter took two days to write because I reached a point after the tomato where I sat and stared at the little blinking cursor for four hours.
> 
> Sooo... just a reminder that I'm using this as an exercise to hopefully kill the block and get me back into the groove. I've set myself a goal of at least 1,000 words per chapter.
> 
> Massive thank you to my loveliest AvengingPhoenix for all her hand holding and reassurance through this process.


	6. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott and Stiles are bromantic, with a side helping of awesome Sheriff being awesome. Also Peter and Derek hash a few things out.

  _ **Six:**_

 

_“A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.”_

_~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~_

    “Good morning Sheriff!”

“Scott. Aren’t you grounded?”

“Yep, but nothing in my grounding said no Stiles.”

Jeorek heaved sigh as he gazed at the floppy haired young man beaming at him over the rim of his coffee cup. His daughter meeting this kid had basically got him the son he’d never had. He and Melissa had spent an awful lot of time on the phone over the years.

“Scott…”

“Please? Mom’s not home ‘til late and I haven’t seen Stiles in forever!”

Jeorek raised a sceptical eyebrow “It’s saturday Scott.”

“I know.”

“You saw her on friday.”

Scott’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times. The Sheriff sighed again. It was too early for this crap. He also knew that taking away the best friend was a worse punishment than being grounded. At least to these two. It was like having twins. Just when he thought Stiles was on her own or they were talking about doing something Scott would appear. Like his daughter had pulled the boy out of her pocket or something.

And the Sheriff would know instantly that he’d been there _the whole time._

Melissa had often had the same experience.

“Alright, go ahead.”

Scott beamed at him and headed for the stairs. Jeorek looked down into his lukewarm coffee for a moment, lips pursed in thought. He liked Scott, he really did. He stood and dumped his coffee in the sink and rinsed his cup, setting it on the sideboard.

It was time to go back to work.

 

 

 

\- - -

    Derek Hale stood quietly while he waited for the nurse to leave. He waited until he heard the door click shut and then made his way around the privacy curtain in his uncle’s hospital room. Peter sat in a wheelchair placed so that he was angled to see out the window within reach of the small round table.

“I wondered when you would come by” Peter said, looking up from the book he had propped in his lap.

“The nurse said your recovery is remarkable” Derek said.

“Yes. I’m trying to get out of here without suspicion” Peter explained. “Now that I have a pack I’m healing at a very advanced rate. Slower than your average wolf, but too quickly to hide it for much longer.”

“Stiles.”

“Yes.”

“... and me?”

Peter gazed at Derek for a moment “If that’s what you want.”

Derek crossed his arms over his chest defensively. He looked out the window so that he wouldn’t have to look at Peter. “I don’t know if I can forgive you for Laura.”

“Yes, Laura.” Peter sighed heavily “I am sorry about her, Derek. I do truly regret it.”

“Swear to me that you didn’t realize it was her.”

Peter waited until Derek looked up to glare at him, then held his gaze “The brain damage was very extensive. I was basically catatonic for six years. Derek I swear on my life that if I had known it was her…”

“Right.”

Silence filled the room. Derek began to pace around the room. Peter went back to the Tennyson in his lap, trying to give him space. The younger man picked up a few knick knacks. Read the nurses board. The warning about communicable diseases above the bottle of hand sanitizer attached to the wall by the door.

“What happens when you get out of here?”

“Revenge.” Peter said instantly “Stiles wishes to tell her father. He’s the Sheriff so I’m hoping he will be amenable to reopening the case on the fire.”

“Why not just kill - “

“Because Kate Argent was not the only one involved Derek. She had help covering it up and I want justice.” Peter and Derek stared at each other. “Argent will die, preferably by my hand, but it isn’t enough.”

“So what? You’re going to get them all arrested?”

“They’re human. Let them deal with human justice.” Peter’s gaze became fierce, bordering on sinister “Let them face what they helped do to our family. I want their lives ruined. Torn apart like ours was.”

“Killing them would do that.”

“Yes. However leaving them alive means they will _suffer_.”

Derek seemed to war with himself for a moment, then said “I still don’t know if I can forgive you for Laura… But I’ll try.”

“Are you saying you accept me as your Alpha?”

“Yes. For now.”

Peter nodded and watched his nephew stride out of the room, back stiff. As the door clicked shut he could feel the bond between him and his nephew slide into place. He smiled.

 

 

 

\- - -

    “Dude! Why are you still in bed?”

Stiles grumbled and pulled the blanket up over her head. She could hear Scott moving around her room. His bag thunked to the floor next to hers by the desk. He toed off his shoes halfway to the bed. His hoodie dropped to the floor and light flooded her little den. She hissed irritably while her best friend crawled into the blanket fort.

“Okay” Scott said, scooting up into Stiles space and laying down. “What’s going on?”

Stiles tucked herself into his arms and wedged her head in under his chin. “The other night in the woods…”

“Yeah…?” Scott prompted.

“I got bit by a werewolf.”

Scott huffed a laugh “C’mon! Do you seriously expect me to believe you’re a werewolf?”

Stiles raised her hand so that Scott could see it an extended her claws. Scott jumped with a little yelp. She looked up at him and he stared back with wide eyes. She watched him catalogue her changed features. The pointed ears and the glowing eyes. The extra hair and the fangs.

“Dude” Scott breathed. His eyes went all concerned “Are you okay with this?”

There. That was her Scott. This was why he was her brother. “I think so. It’s kind of cool.”

“How?”

“Well, I can smell the burritos you brought, and the wad of gum stuck to the bottom of your left shoe.”

“Seriously?!”

“Yep. Also I can hear lots of things. Like really far away.”

“Like what?”

“I could hear Allison on the phone with her mom the other day. That’s how I knew she needed a pen.”

“Thanks for that, by the way.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Oh, and I’m super strong.”

“How strong?”

“I will no longer need your help opening any jars. Ever.”

Scott laughed “At least Mom still needs me.”

Stiles giggled, which was Scott’s goal. “Sooo” he prompted. “Tell me everything.”

So she did. She talked about that night in the forest. About waking up and about Peter. About all the answers she’d gotten. About hunters and wolves. About being shot. Scott took it all in without interrupting an awful lot. He demanded to be shown her wound. She lifted her shirt to show off her bandaged side while explaining werewolf healing.

After a while things got quiet. The two friends lay curled up in Stiles’ bed/blanket fort breathing in each other’s air. Eventually Scott stirred and they ate the burritos his mom had made the night before. They pulled Stiles’ laptop into the fort with them and watched episodes of _Courage the Cowardly Dog_ and _Ed, Edd ‘n’ Eddy_.

Stiles made a snack run and they got chip crumbs all over her sheets. Scott let her paint his toenails (a manly shade of blue) when he switched them over to episodes of _Dexter_.

“I’m going to have to be careful around Allison, aren’t I?”

“Yeah” Stiles nodded. “She’s an Argent.”

“Should I even date her?”

“Do you like her?”

“Yeah, I really do.”

Stiles sighed “I don’t want to say no, but this whole werewolf thing? She can’t ever find out. You’re always going to have a secret. She might not like that.”

“But it’s not my secret.”

“You know that, and I know that; but what if her dad finds out?”

Scott thought on that for a long minute. “I’d like to try” he decided.

“Then I support you.”

“Are you going to tell your dad?” Scott wondered.

“Yes” Stiles said. She did not keep things from her father. “He has wednesday off, so Peter’s going to come here and we’re going to have a sit down.”

“That could go badly.”

“Yeah” Stiles bit her lip and concentrated on her own toes. “I’m trying not to think about it.”

The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs reached Stiles’ ears. Then the door swung open and her father’s scent wafted through the room.

“All right, blanket dwellers, I brought dinner.” They popped out of the blankets to see Jeorek standing in the doorway with a long suffering look on his face “Your mom said to remind you to bring home all the clothes that have congregated over here.”

“He’s here half the time anyway” Stiles said as the two teens followed the Sheriff out the door. The scent of pizza wafted to her and her stomach gurgled.

“You should pick yours up from Scott’s house” Jeorek replied mildly.

“You got it.”

“Good” Jeorek stated as the three gathered around the kitchen table where trio of pizza boxes sat. “Now eat.”

“This had better be from Nello’s*, Papa” Stiles said as she retrieved cups and juice.

“It is. I even got the healthy toppings” Jeorek said. He hated the diet Stiles was enforcing. Not enough red meat and fried foods. Too many carrot sticks…. but it made Stiles happy. So mostly he just endured it. Oh, he complained, but he ate healthier because she wanted him to.

“Good.”

“Eat, Jitterbug.”

Father and daughter exchanged a grin and then Jeorek shook his head as he watched Scott try to shove an entire slice into his mouth. Stiles handed her friend and handful of napkins and then followed his example.

The Sheriff laughed. **  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Nello's Pizza does exist. It lives in Chandler, AZ and has awesomely excellent pizza with a lot of healthy choices. It's one of my top 2 pizza places.
> 
> I always picture Peter as this super articulate, intelligent man who devours books and if the fire hadn't happened would probably be teaching mythology, literature or history at a university somewhere.
> 
> Again a huge thank you to AvengingPhoenix for holding my hand. Your patience knows no bounds.


	7. Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter more Scott/Stiles brotp, some lacrosse, some Jackson, some Lydia and Allison.

  _ **Seven:**_

 

 

 

_“I could never learn to like her, except on a raft at sea with no other provisions in sight.”_

_~ Mark Twain ~_

    The next couple of days went quietly. Stiles spent a large portion of sunday at the station with her father. She did her homework and helped Janine with some filing. She made the coffee and did a lunch run.

When she got home she found Derek Hale sitting on her stoop. They spent some time sitting in her kitchen. Derek didn’t say anything and Stiles tried to resist the urge to feed him and then stuff him in her sock drawer. He left just as the Sheriff was getting home for a break.

Dinner made, some cleaning done, a long phone call with Scott. Stiles curled up in bed and listened to the night come alive outside the house. The creak of the trees, the house almost sighing as it settled. Night bugs and animals waking up.

Somewhere near midnight Peter arrived. She let him in her window and the Q&A started again. Stiles knew it would probably be a while before she felt like she had a real handle on things. Peter made her go through some exercises to explore and test her new senses. It felt too much like meditating and while her new werewolf super powers seemed to help with her ADHD, it wasn’t gone.

She learned a little bit more about Peter too. How old he was (27 apparently he’d been a late surprise to his parents. He was only four years older than Derek*), his favorite color (navy blue) and that he’d been studying structural engineering at UC Berkeley when the fire happened.

In return she answered his questions… even the painful ones (she didn’t like talking about her mother). Her relationship with her father piqued his interest. It seemed to surprise him that they were so close… Her rebellious streak was fine, thanks.

She fell asleep tucked into his side and woke monday morning with the quilt tucked up around her ears.

Monday flies by. Stiles decides that sometimes normality is underrated so she stays late after school like she always does and cheers for Scott as he tries out for first line. She whoops and hollers and is generally annoying. She knows because Lydia (Stiles loves her, she’s so damn smart and has the greatest taste in shoes ever. If she ever gets up the guts to try wearing heels, she knows who she’s going to) makes this face that says she wants to beat Stiles over the head with her Physics book.

Allison wears this generally miffed expression all through practice. She’s watching Scott like a hawk and Stiles has already decided she sort of hates her. She’ll suck it up because she wants her brother to be happy, but that doesn’t mean she likes it. Allison may wear a pretty floral perfume, but underneath that? Yeah, she smells like gunpowder and something flowering that makes her feel the need to sneeze. It makes the new presence curled up under her skin wary.

When Scott manages to sling the ball (by accident) past Danny after miraculously dodging Jackson (getting hit by the King Douche hurts, ok?) Finstock actually drops his whistle. Stiles throws her arms in the air from where she sits by the cooler and screams.

“Bilinski!” Finstock screams in her face “If you don’t stop that confounded racket I’ll flunk you!”

Stiles grins at Finstock and then hugs him. He splutters incoherently until she lets go and then yells: “McCall! First Line!”

Scott drops his stick in shock “Really?”

“Yes, now get out of here before I change my mind!”

Stiles takes this as her cue to stop bouncing on the sidelines and dart across the field and tackle her best friend in a celebratory hug. She didn’t care that he was sweaty and covered in mud. Scott swung her around a little and she lifted him a couple inches off his feet in retaliation (because she could do that now, so there). Scott laughed a little.

In the goal net Danny was shaking his head, an amused smile on his face as he watched Scott plop a muddy glove on Stiles’ head. He liked Stiles, she was smart and devious and funny. They didn’t really associate though. Jackson was Danny’s best friend, and Scott was Stiles’. Jackson and Stiles had a hate on for each other that had once evolved into a prank war so epic that they’d both been suspended for two days. Once last year Jackson had sort of on purpose beat Scott black and blue in practice and in retaliation Stiles had filled his porsche with packing peanuts.

Jackson stood scowling at them like they’d keyed his car. He disliked McCall, mostly because he was an idiotic waste of space (seriously, _he was_ , shut up). He _hated_ Stiles though. Stiles was the definition of everything annoying in the world.

Up in the stands Allison’s eyes were narrowed as she watched Scott and his friend celebrate on the field. She liked Scott, he was cute and funny and a little bit like a puppy dog.

“Is that his girlfriend?”

“Who? Stiles?” Lydia Martin scoffed. “Oh please.”

Allison raised a delicate eyebrow and Lydia rolled her eyes. She was filing her nails unconcernedly now that Stiles’ hyperactivity was no longer in her bubble “The day those two are boyfriend and girlfriend is the day I start wearing overalls.”

“But - “

“No.” Lydia waved her emery board around decisively “That’s like saying that you think peanut butter belongs on a hotdog.”

“Ew.”

Lydia glanced up at Allison’s scrunched up disgusted face. “Exactly. They’re more like conjoined twins” she said brightly.

Allison watched as Scott covered Stiles in mud and Stiles retaliate by threatening him with his lacrosse stick. “If you’re sure…”

“Oh you’ll totally need her stamp of approval if you want to date him” Lydia said as they began gathering their things as the team filed off the field. “If you promise to teach her about shoes and how to walk in heels she’ll love you and you’re in.”

Allison stared “I - what?”

Lydia’s air of smug superiority increased as she lifted her nose into the air and grinned at Allison. “Stiles is in love with me you know. Mostly because of my amazing shoes.”

“Um.”

“I know things” Lydia said. This time her smile was all teeth.

 

 

 

\- - -

    “You need something Stilinski?”

Stiles sneered back at Jackson as he swaggered out of the locker room. He was freshly showered and looking perfect like always. She despised him.

“Yes, for you to drop dead Whittemore.”

“You first, princess” Jackson sneered back, looming over her.

Stiles wanted to punch him. She had done before, but she was super strong now and while breaking his jaw would be extremely satisfying, the trouble she’d get into wasn’t worth it. Her head tilted back to look up at him. “You have boogers in your nose” she offered conversationally. Jackson’s eyebrows lowered in a scowl.

Danny emerged from the locker room. He looked at them for a moment and then heaved a sigh. He touched Jackson’s bicep “C’mon man, Lydia’s waiting and you know how she gets.”

Jackson shrugged him off and, still glaring, walked off down the hallway. Danny offered Stiles a shrug and Stiles smiled sheepishly. He winked and turned to follow his friend.

Scott emerged from the locker room still tugging his t-shirt down. “I made first line!”

“I know!”

“Do you think Allison saw?”

“I’m pretty sure she did.”

“Do you think she’s still here?”

Scott’s face was so hopeful that Stiles resolved to pack away her uncertainty over Allison away in a box somewhere. Again. “Why don’t we go find out, yeah?”

A beatific grin crossed Scott’s face. As stars clouded his vision Stiles hooked her fingers into his sweatshirt and tugged him down the hall. **  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * In season three in the flashbacks I get the impression that Peter is only nineteen or twenty to Derek fifteen or sixteen. So I've made him 27 to Derek's 22 in the first season.
> 
> I swear this is Steter. Medium burn maybe? I'm trying to be thorough and keep the plot rolling. More Steter in the next chapter. Also coming up: The Sheriff learns about Werewolves! And Derek is no help at all.
> 
> As always, many thanks to AvengingPhoenix for indulging my whims and reassuring me in every step of writing. You are a sun among stars.


	8. Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles and the Sheriff have a heart to heart wherein werewolves are revealed... and though I tried, Peter and Derek wouldn't leave the doorstep.

 

_**Eight:** _

_“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”_

_~ Arthur Schopenhauer ~_

Wednesday came too quickly for Stiles. Early in the morning while the two Stilinskis were heading out the door, Stiles confirmed that the Sheriff would be home that night.

He knew something was up. Of course he knew. His child was practically vibrating out of her skin with nervous energy. He held his peace. Whatever it was he was fairly certain he would find out that night.

It was moments like these that Stiles was grateful that her father was who he was.

She spent the day growing increasingly jittery. Scott split his time between mooning over Allison Argent and trying to keep his best friend from falling apart at the seams.

At home, as evening rapidly approached Stiles set about making dinner. Eggplant parmesan (baked, not fried) with a meat marinara and three different kinds of cheese.

She set the table for four.

When the Sheriff got home he watched Stiles brush melted butter and garlic onto a loaf of bread. He eyed the table and its four place settings and sighed heavily.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"Please sit down, Papa."

“Oh, boy.”

Jeorek sat down at the table and watched Stiles sprinkle cheese on the bread and then put the baking sheet in the oven. She studiously washed her hands and walked toward him, wringing the towel between her hands. Jeorek sighed and hooked a foot around a chair leg, pulled the chair around to face him and then guided his daughter into it. She gripped his hands tightly.

“You’re not pregnant are you?” he asked.

“What? No!”

Jeorek wasn’t going to say how relieved he was to hear that “Then nothing can be bad enough for me to hate you.”

“You will, I know you will.”

“Goscislawa” Jeorek said, and Stiles looked up into her father’s blue-green eyes. “I love you, no matter what.”

“I-” Stiles took a deep breath and her grip on her father’s hands tightened. “That night you caught Scott out in the woods…”

“You were with him.”

Stiles nodded.

“Something happened?”

She nodded again “I-I found the body.”

Jeorek inhaled sharply and his own grip tightened. He watched his child for a moment and _knew_. This wasn’t about the dismembered corpse of a young woman. This was much different, and much more life changing.

“Jitterbug?” Stiles looked up at him and he offered her the tiny crooked smile he got when words failed to express just how much she meant to him. “Talk to me, baby.”

“There was a wolf in the woods that night. A werewolf.”

“A werewolf?” the scepticism was really hard to keep out of his voice and Stiles really couldn’t blame him for it.

“Yeah.”

“A werewolf - Stiles.” Exasperation.

“I can prove it.” Stiles’ voice and face pleaded with her father to give her the benefit of the doubt. “Please just hear me out.”

“Ok. Okay.”

“It bit me.”

“Oh, for - are you really trying to tell me you’re a werewolf Stiles? Because - HOLY CRAP!”

Stiles had changed. Jeorek stared at this new version of his daughter. Her ears were pointed and her brow more defined and she had _sideburns_. That was nothing on the mouth full of fangs though. Or the claws. He gazed into his daughter’s glowing eyes and tried to see his child.

What he found was small and frightened and reminded him of the tiny little girl that used to climb into bed with he and Claudia and insist on sleeping in the middle. The tiny frightened thing that used to make him check under the bed and in the closet for monsters…. Now, now she was the monster.

“Oh, kiddo…”

Irrefutable proof sat before him that the wild things of fairy tales existed. Irrefutable proof in the shape of his only child. The little girl that looked so much like her mother but had his attitude. She looked like she was trying not to cry.

Jeorek’s mouth tightened a little. It was an expression he wore a lot. Usually when he was working and had figured out who dun it or when he was torn between fury and laughter over something she had done.

He opened his arms and his daughter fell into them, suddenly human again.

“Shhhh” he murmured into her hair. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.”

“Daddy..”

“I know. It’s okay, we’ll figure it out.”

Stiles pulled away a little “The wolf that bit me…”

Jeorek managed a fairly passable growl, Stiles thought. “I’ll track it down, I promise.”

“You don’t have to that. He’s not bad, he was confused and scared and angry.”

“You know who it is.” Not a question. Stiles nodded.

“Peter Hale.”

“Peter Hale is in a catatonic state at Memorial, Stiles. The fire - “

“Did a lot of damage but he started healing. He was wounded and packless and scared.”

“So he bit you?!”

“Papa - “

“I’m going to shoot him!” Jeorek exclaimed. “In the head! I’m gonna shoot him in the head!”

“Papa stop!”

Jeorek and Stiles stared at each other. Jeorek sat back down, not having realized he’d stood. Stiles watched him warily.

“Please let me finish before you go shooting anybody.”

“And if I still want to shoot him when you’re done?”

“I’ll protest, but I won’t stop you.”

“Okay kid. Talk.”

So she talked. She told him everything. All of it. From the Hales to Kate Argent to the fire. To Laura and Derek leaving Peter alone in the hospital because it wasn’t safe for them to stay. To the extent of the damage done to Peter.

She told him about Laura coming back. About the nurse at the hospital who had started letting Peter out of his room. About how when Laura had stumbled across him Peter hadn’t recognized her. (Here they had to take an interlude and argue over Peter Hale being a murder)

Stiles told her dad about that night in the woods. About how Peter had realized what he was doing. How he’d taken responsibility and stayed. How he was explaining things to her and helping her learn to control it. (They had another interlude where Stiles ran off on a tanget about pack dynamics, and Jeorek let her.)

“That’s why there are four places at the table.”

“Yeah.”

“Well shit, kid.” Stiles shrugged a little, half sheepish and half contrite. Jeorek shook his head and resolved to have a private meltdown about how his _daughter_ was a _werewolf_ later. He grumbled a bit just to be contrary and then the Stilinski family stood in their dining room hugging for few minutes until the timer on the oven went off.

 

\- - -

    Peter and Derek stood awkwardly on the Stilinski’s front porch. Derek had the mulish expression of someone who was present only because they’d been forced. Peter was trying to figure out the odds on whether or not the Sheriff of Beacon Hills was going to open the door and shoot him the face.

“This is a bad idea” Derek muttered grumpily.

“Yes. Stiles however, means more than our comfort.”

“I don’t see why I have to be here. She’s your beta.”

“What a coincidence, so are you” Peter said brightly and nudged his nephew with his elbow. Derek’s eyebrows drew even closer together and he looked a bit constipated. “Stiles is very close to her father.”

“So.”

“Don’t you think that having the Sheriff of our little town on our side, perhaps even in our pack, might be a good idea?”

Derek thought about that for a moment, then shrugged “Yeah, ok. It might be helpful.”

“Yes.”

The Hale men stared at the door for a quiet minute. They could hear Stiles moving about the kitchen. Hear the Sheriff’s steady heartbeat to the side where the dining table was.

“So…?”

Peter eyeballed his nephew out of the corner of his eye “‘So’ what?”

“Are you gonna ring the bell?”

Oh, right. Peter took a deep breath, reached out and rang the doorbell. **  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried so hard! But this all turned out so much different than I was expecting! I also very nearly made myself cry, so there's that.
> 
> I promise that the next chapter will have Sheriff and Peter interaction! Also awkward family dinner.
> 
> Also, thank you to AvengingPhoenix for helping me track down Linden Ashby's eye color even though by the time we found a picture big enough to decide that they're green and not blue, I had forgotten why I wanted to know. Sorry love.


	9. Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An awkward family dinner. Peter and the Sheriff talk.

  ** _Nine:_**

_“The wise adapt themselves to circumstances, as water moulds itself to the pitcher.”_

_~Chinese Proverb ~_

    The front door of 327 Euclid Avenue swung open. Later Derek would swear into next week that he _did not_ jump a foot backwards. Also, he _did not_ edge behind his uncle. Even if he was, who could blame him?

The Sheriff of Beacon Hills was standing in the doorway in his uniform, shiny gold badge glinting in the porch light, with a twelve gauge shotgun slung over one shoulder.

“Can I help you?” the Sheriff asked with a narrow eyed look.

“Ah, yes, I’m Peter Hale, this is my nephew, Derek.”

“Right. The werewolves.”

“Yes.” Peter lowered his hand from where he’d offered it to shake. Then said, “I believe Stiles is expecting us?”

_“Papa?”_

“Yeah?” Sheriff Stilinski called back into the house.

_“Let them in.”_

He sighed and rolled his green eyes. The shotgun slid off his shoulder and his hand went from the stock to the barrel. “Ruin my fun, why don’t you?”

_“Papa!”_

He looked Peter in the eyes and said “Jeorek Stilinski. You can call me Sheriff until I decide whether or not you’re going to hurt my daughter. If the answer is yes, fair warning, I’m going to shoot you in the head.”

Peter stared at him for a moment, blue eyes slightly wide. “Fair enough” he nodded.

At that moment Stiles appeared at the Sheriff’s elbow. “Papa, the shotgun, really?”

“Yep” the Sheriff said, unrepentant. “What, you couldn’t smell it?”

“You always smell a little bit like gun oil, Papa.” Stiles said fondly “Always have. Now let them in. Mrs. Hubner is going to think they’re thieves or something.”

Both Stiles and her father eyeballed the house across the street. Mrs. Hubner was a sweet old lady, but she was also a busybody. The curtains in the front window moved a little and the Sheriff shook his head. He stepped out of the way and allowed Peter and and Derek to pass (Derek with a quiet ‘Sir’).

Once they were all inside and seated comfortably (if awkwardly) around the table, Stiles began to serve dinner. Jeorek propped the gun up against her mother’s china cabinet, well within reach.

Forks scraped against plates for a few uncomfortable minutes.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t arrest you for murder right now.”

“Papa!”

Peter sighed and wiped his mouth with his napkin. “It’s all right Stiles, your father has a point.”

Jeorek and Peter gazed at each other for a long moment. Then Peter spoke quietly, voice even “I was not in my right mind when Laura found me. I regret having killed her. If I thought going to jail would do anyone any good at all, I would let you arrest me.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. However, you will never be able to pin it on me. I am a severely injured man who has only recently come out of a catatonic state and is making slow progress toward recovery in the long term ward of Beacon Hills Memorial.” Peter paused to take another bite of his meal. “Also, you will never find the rest of her body.”

“Won’t I?” Jeorek asked with a narrow eyed glare.

“No. It would seem that Derek here believed that Laura deserved a proper burial. I don’t know where she is, he won’t tell me. Even if I did what use would it be to tell you? All your coroner will find is evidence of an animal attack.”

“I see.”

Peter sat back and the two men regarded each other for a minute while Stiles stared at them with wide eyes and Derek studied the tablecloth. “If it will help you come to terms with my place in Stiles’ life, and therefore yours, I swear I will never kill again. Not unless doing so would save the life of a member of my pack.”

“And who would your pack include?” Jeorek demanded.

“For now? Stiles and Derek obviously. You of course have a place in our pack as Stiles’ father.” Peter considered Jeorek for a moment, then “The boy Scott and his mother aren’t pack, but they are considered under the pack’s protection. Scott is Stiles’ brother in every way that counts, is he not?”

Jeorek narrowed his eyes in thought “Tell me about the hunters. What kind of a threat do they pose?”

“A very large one. They’re Argents.”

“How bad is this going to get?”

“That depends on how long it takes them to think the rogue they came here for is gone. I suspect they’ll be here awhile, seeing as they found us on the full moon.”

“What will they think of you?”

“For now? That we’re a small local pack. They’ll try to figure out who we are and they’ll try to determine if we pose a threat.”

“Right, that’s where this code comes in, isn’t it.”

Peter nodded “Yes. Unfortunately the Argents don’t always follow it. Fortunately Chris Argent does.”

“Is Kate Argent likely to come back here?”

Derek jerked in his seat. Stiles looked at him in concern, but he glared and looked away.

“If she finds out it was Laura, yes.”

“If she does?”

“Nothing will stop me from killing her. Nothing.”

Jeorek looked over at Stiles, then over at the angry, confused and scared boy sitting across from her. He blinked. “I’m going to reopen the case. Derek, I’ll need to bring you into the station for an interview. Peter I’ll come by the hospital. Official reason for reopening is the fact that you’re lucid.”

“I understand.” Peter said “I do want justice Sheriff.”

“Good. Justice, when done properly, is more satisfying than revenge.”

“I’m counting on it.”

The group of four ate quietly for a few minutes before Derek spoke quietly. “This is really good, Stiles.”

Stiles beamed at the effort Derek had just made. She recognized it for the olive branch that it was. “Thank you. It’s a family recipe.”

“It is quite delicious, Stiles.” Peter offered her a smile and she beamed back. His wolf stretched through him, pleased that that smile was aimed at him.

“Tell me Derek, where are you staying?”

“Uh” Derek stared at the Sheriff in surprise. “At the house…?”

“What? You’ve got to be kidding?” Stiles yelped. “Papa!”

Jeorek sighed. That was Stiles’ _‘do something’_ tone. “You can’t stay there, son. As soon as I reopen the case it’ll be a crime scene again.”

“Not to mention that wolfy powers or not, it’s completely unsanitary!” Stiles exclaimed.

Derek looked to Peter pleadingly. Peter raised his hands to indicate that he was staying out of it. He and the good Sheriff seemed to have come to a tentative agreement to let each other be and feel things out for Stiles’ sake. He wasn’t about to compromise that so quickly.

“She’s right. Stiles will set up the guest room for you.”

“I couldn’t - “

“I will?” Stiles and Derek spoke at the same time. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it) Stiles had a lot of experience talking over people when she wanted to. “Yes! I will! You’ll stay here!”

“I -”

“That’s settled then. I’ll lend you some clothes for tonight and you can go get your things in the morning” Jeorek nodded decisively. “Help me with these dishes.”

Derek stood up numbly and began to help clear the table. Wondering when his life had become an episode of _The Twilight Zone_. Peter stood to help and Stiles watched from her seat, smirking. In the Stilinski house, if you cooked, you didn’t do dishes.

Soon enough the dishes were done. The Sheriff had pointedly escorted Peter from the premises. As soon as he was sure that Peter was gone, Jeorek settled himself in his chair and turned on the tv.

Stiles led Derek up the stairs, stopping briefly to get a pile of linens out of the closet in the hall. He followed her down the hall and they took a right into the room across the hall from Stiles’.

“It’s not much” Stiles said, turning on the light and moving to the bed. “But the bed is super comfy, and the pillows are new.”

She started to make the bed up with light blue sheets. Derek numbly went over to help. They made the bed quietly (well, Stiles’ hummed).

“I’m confused.” Derek said “You don’t know me, your dad doesn’t know me.”

“No, but you’re pack.” Stiles said “Peter’s been telling me about pack and pack bonds. Basically it means we’re family. Papa might not get it because he can’t feel it, but he gets me. He get’s that you and Peter are part of our lives now. Forever. To us Stilinskis that makes you family.”

Derek sat down on the bed and contemplated his hands. Stiles went to her dad’s room and retrieved some sweats and a t-shirt. She set them on the dresser by the door.

“I do laundry on thursdays, so if you have anything needs washing leave it in the basket.”

“Peter’s back.”

“Yep.”

“I - “

“I get it. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

Derek nodded and Stiles left the room, closing the door with a soft and very final sounding click.

\- - -

    Up on the Stilinskis roof, listening to the television drone as the Sheriff quickly fell asleep, and to Derek breathing and moving about the guest bedroom, sat Peter. Stiles swung herself agilely out of her window and she clambered up to the ridge to sit next to him.

“We’re gonna be okay, right?”

Peter smiled down at her and wrapped an arm around her. She scooted close into his side and followed his gaze up to the starry sky and the waning moon.

“I think we’re going to be fine, Stiles. Just fine.” **  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They wouldn't do what I wanted. I wanted some shouting and threatening and for Derek to be kinda growly. Instead the Sheriff wanted a shotgun, and then everyone wanted to be civil. And then Derek was like 'love me!"
> 
> So this is what happened. Also I made up the street address.
> 
> My thanks to AvengingPhoenix, who squealed upon reading this chapter, so I'm thinking I did okay. 8)


	10. Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate is on her way. The Sheriff begins his investigation into the fire. Lydia and Stiles make plans.

  ** _Ten:_**

 

 

_“Live so that you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.”_

_~ Will Rogers ~_

    It took a few days after the sighting in the Beacon Hills Preserve for Kate to catch wind of what was going on. Chris spent it with his men mapping out the town and surrounding areas. Gridding off a map of the preserve and learning the lay of the land. By wednesday Chris felt that he had a fairly good foothold on the situation.

The small pack they had tracked on the night of the full moon had obviously not been the ones who had been creating the chaos of the ‘animal attacks’ in town. If they had been feral they would have attacked, three on three. One had obviously been an Alpha (the red eyes gave it away), the other two betas.

One of his men had informed him that Derek Hale was back in town, which meant that Laura was back as well. Chris has his suspicions on who the body in the woods was. If he was right things could get very messy very quickly.

And then Kate told him she was coming.

Chris knew his sister had a crazy streak buried underneath those pretty blonde curls. He worried what she would do when she found out what was going on. He sighed and set down the Beacon Hills Gazette and set his chin in his hand on the counter, watching the steam rise up off his first mug of coffee.

“What’s wrong?”

He looked up at his wife. Victoria stood at the stove, spatula in hand watching him with a raised eyebrow.

“Things just got more complicated” Chris said, pushing the paper across the counter.

Victoria’s eyebrows crawled toward her hairline upon reading the headline. “This is a complication.”

“Kate’s driving in tonight.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, considering - “

“It’s too late. I’d have to tell her why I don’t want her to come. As soon as she finds out nothing will stop her.”

Victoria sighed and gave her husband a significant look as Allison bounded into the kitchen for breakfast. They would talk about this later after their daughter went to school. Chris nodded and then moved to kiss the top of Allison’s head. Allison beamed up at him as Victoria set a plate of eggs in front of her.

On the counter the headline read “ _Hale Fire Survivor Wakes; Sheriff to Re-Open Investigation_ ”.

 

 

\- - -

    It was still fairly early in the morning, and Melissa McCall, RN stood waiting with a file in her hands. Most days Melissa worked in the ER, some days though she had duties like this. Not often, mind you, but she had been working for BHM for over sixteen years now. She was a Nurse Manager and well respected by her peers and colleagues.

Today was different though. She had been asked to provide the relevant medical information as well as an escort to the Sheriff on his way to speak with Peter Hale. The reason being that she had been on shift the night of the Hale fire. She had been part of the team to treat Peter when he had been brought in burned and nearly dead.

If this case ever went to trial Melissa would be a material witness of the damage done.

Sheriff Stilinski and Deputy Willis came through the door and Melissa and Jeorek exchanged a smile that spoke of long familiarity and friendship as well as commiseration.

“Okay” said Melissa, diving right in. Introductions weren’t needed. Deputy Willis had become a familiar face over the years.She’d fallen into a habit of interrupting Scott and Stiles’ shenanigans and driving them home in her squad car. She handed the file to Jeorek “He’s had several scans since coming out of the catatonia. Dr. Matthews is frankly surprised that he’s healing as quickly as he is, but most of us are still amazed that he’s come out of the coma at all.”

Jeorek made a strange noise. He had a little grimace on his face like he was wondering how his life had come to this point.

Melissa eyed him sideways as she led the two officers down the hallway “He’s undergoing some pretty hefty physical therapy in order to get out if here. Betty Grant, the day shift nurse says that he told his physical therapist that after over six years of having no choice but to stare at the same four walls day in and day out he wanted out.”

“So he is talking?” Willis asked.

“Fairly well according to Dr. Matthews. He has the articulation and everything, but he pauses every now and then. Like he’s trying to remember which order the words go in.”

“Have they tested his memory?” Jeorek asked, then looked mildly bewildered until he hid the expression.

“Yes. They ran the full gamut. His short term and long term memories are just fine. I wouldn’t be surprised if he remembers everything.”

The trio stopped just outside Peter Hale’s room. Jeorek sighed and scrubbed one hand over his face. “Okay, Tara will you take Melissa’s statement about the night of the fire? We’ll need it if we manage to catch the arsonist.”

“You got it.”

“Come on, we can get coffee” Melissa said and led Deputy Willis away.

Jeorek blinked to himself and straightened his shoulders. He was going to go in there and perform this interview as if he didn’t know what the man on the other side of the door was. They hadn’t talked about the fire last night during dinner. Jeorek had been too caught up in the idea of werewolves and his child being one to worry about it.

He opened the door and stepped inside. He had a killer to find.

\- - -

    “So…”

“I’m alive!”

“...Yay?”

Stiles huffed and rolled her eyes before hooking her arm through Scott’s. “It went ok.”

“Yeah?” Scott asked as he let his best friend drag him up the steps and into the school. “Did you hafta, y’know, wolf out?”

“It’s my dad, of course I did.”

“Are you grounded?”

“Don’t sound so hopeful” Stiles complained.

“Being grounded by myself isn’t fun” Scott complained as they reached their lockers. Luckily for them they were only a few lockers apart. Stiles opened her locker and traded out her books for the first half of the day.

“I know. Did I thank you for taking the fall solo like that?”

“No.” Scott shut his own locker and wandered over to Stiles “You didn’t.”

“Well, thanks” Stiles offered. “I’m pretty sure I learned my lesson.” They grinned at each other.

“Scott!”

Scott flushed and turned, pulling Stiles with him. Walking toward them, pretty brown eyes lasered in on Scott was Allison. Stiles sighed as she watched Scott and Allison make goo-goo eyes at each other and exchange pleasantries.

“Hi Lydia!” Stiles said, turning her focus to the beautiful girl next to Allison.

“Stiles.”

They stood there silently avoiding looking at the sappiness that was Scott and Allison and also trying to avoid looking each other in the eyes. Stiles ended up staring down at Lydia’s shoes. They were a lovely blue today with a rounded toe and three inch heels. The material looked like satin.

Lydia wiggled her foot. Stiles looked up at her, flushed. Lydia raised one eyebrow.

“I like them” Stiles said softly, glancing down.

“I know” Lydia said. “You love me for my shoes.”

Stiles nodded “I’m not very girly.”

“No” Lydia agreed.

“I - “ Stiles swallowed and hunched her shoulders. “Could you teach me to walk in them?”

“Why do you want to learn? You love my shoes, but you’ve never cared enough before.”

“Um.”

“Oh, wow.”

Stiles looked up in alarm and caught Lydia’s knowing gaze. She blushed heavily her skin going all blotchy like it was prone to doing. A slow shark like grin was spreading across Lydia’s perfect face.

“There’s a guy, isn’t there?” she demanded.

“Shhh!” Stiles hurriedly hushed her.

Lydia rolled her eyes “I’ll do it, but only if you let me take you shopping as well.”

“For what?” Stiles asked in confusion.

“A dress of course. Maybe even two.”

Stiles was willing to admit that Lydia frightened her. The thought of being dragged through the mall by a person who might as well be a professional shopper/stylist was daunting. Her eyes flashed down to Lydia’s shoes again and she frowned minutely.

It was times like this that she missed her mother.

Mama would have been able to teach her about walking in really tall heels. She’d have taken her on shopping trips and to the spa. She would have taught Stiles how to do her makeup and which colors suited her best. She couldn’t ask her dad, he was as clueless as she was and the one time he had tried to help they’d blushed and stammered their way through the ‘you’re becoming a woman’ talk.

A pair of intense blue eyes flashed through her mind, and Stiles took a deep breath. She looked Lydia straight in the eyes “Would you teach me about makeup too?”

Lydia’s smile became genuine as she nodded. “Saturday. We’ll make a day of  it.”

 

\- - -

    Derek sat uncomfortably in a chair in the waiting area of the Beacon Hills Sheriff’s Station. Janine at the desk kept eyeballing him like she expected him to either mysteriously vanish or attempt to steal her pad of post-it-notes.

He was waiting for Sheriff Stilinski to get back so that Derek could be interviewed.

He shifted awkwardly.

He felt like his life had been upended. His sister had been murdered, by his uncle. Said uncle was now his Alpha and he had this new pack sister that was apparently used to getting her way. At least when it came to certain things. He was living in the Sheriff’s spare bedroom and he’d eaten more vegetables last night than he had in weeks.

Derek straightened up as the Sheriff came striding into the Station. His scent and the sound of his heartbeat was already becoming familiar.

Jeorek clapped him on the shoulder “C’mon son, let’s talk in my office.”

Derek followed. **  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted Steter feels, but I felt that the plot moving forward was a little more important after what happened at dinner.
> 
> Steter fluffies in the next one, ok?


	11. Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steter fluffies. Scott is derpy and everyone gets pastries (yes even Jackson).

 

**_Eleven:_ **

_“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”_

_~ Louisa May Alcott ~_

Her chest was heaving as she breathed in as deeply as she could. Running through the forest, chasing after her Alpha. The goal was to track him, to not lose the trail; and catch him if she could. They were dodging through the trees, leaping over rocks and bushes. It was actually kind of fun, Stiles decided.

It was just the two of them out here in the dark of the half moon. Derek was exempt because he’d been doing this all his life. He already knew how to track. How to use his strength and agility to his advantage. Stiles was still marveling over the fact that she hadn’t fallen on her face. Not even once.

The wind changed and she caught a hint of the dandelion, licorice and pine scent that she had come to know as Peter’s. She adjusted her course and put on a burst of speed. She crashed through a shrub, startling the rabbit hiding within. It took off away from her, heart jackhammering. Inside her her wolf perked up, liking the idea of the chase… but no, there were more interesting targets tonight.

She swerved around a log and then leapt over some rocks. She could see him now. Running thirty feet ahead, weaving through the trees. She growled a bit, excited to have finally caught up with him, and dashed forward.

They ran together, Peter leading Stiles on a merry chase until they reached the overlook. Stiles leapt into the air and tackled him. They rolled across the ground, grappling for dominance for a minute. Stiles felt her shoulders hit the ground and she knew she had lost. Following her instincts she went limp, tilting her head and baring her throat to her Alpha.

Peter rumbled, please and tucked his nose into her neck, inhaling her scent. He tucked it behind her ear, thoroughly scent-marking her. She let out a little happy noise and nosed at his neck in return.

He pulled away, drawing Stiles up into a sitting position. She settled into his side, panting.

“I got you” she said with a grin.

“I let you get me” Peter said.

“I still got you.”

Peter chuckled, slipping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her nearly into his lap. His own wolf rumbled contently in the back of his head. He breathed in her scent; a scent he was already thinking of as belonging to him. Stiles belonged to him. She was his Beta, and soon enough (patience is, after all, a virtue) she would be _his_.

Stiles laced their fingers together and hummed happily. She tucked her head under his chin and let the rhythm of his heart beat calm her own. Oh she was in trouble. A soft smile crossed her features. A whole heaping lot of trouble, and somehow she was ok with that.

Peter rested his chin on her head and together the two wolves looked down over the sleeping town of Beacon Hills, content.

 

\- - -

Mornings weren’t really Scott’s thing. His Mom usually had to kick him out of bed in order to get to school on time. Lately though, he’d been a little better about it. Mostly because school had Allison. Beautiful, sweet Allison.

Also, there was Stiles’ thing. Stiles’ whole werewolf thing. And wasn’t that a kick in the nuts? His best friend, the sister of his soul had this hugely epic thing going on. He’d spent a lot of time this last week thinking about it and he’d come to the conclusion that he’d make a horrible werewolf. He’d noticed a difference in Stiles. She seemed calmer somehow, like her ADHD wasn’t as big a thing as it used to be.

He wondered if her super werewolf healing had helped with that.

Then there was the whole Hunters thing. Scott frowned to himself as he pedaled his bike down the street. The Hunters thing. The Argents being werewolf hunters thing. It was why he hadn’t asked Allison out like he’d originally wanted to.

Allison thought it was because he was grounded, but it wasn’t.

Scott could tell that Stiles was trying to be supportive. She always was, but she couldn’t really hide stuff from him. They’d known each other since their first day in kindergarden when a kid had stolen Scott’s blue crayon and Stiles had dumped a pot of paste over the kids head in retaliation. You don’t spend your formative years attached at the hip with someone without learning things about them.

Stiles wanted Scott to be happy. If that meant he would be happy with Allison, she would suck it up… but… well, Allison belonged to this clan of hunters. If she ever found out about Stiles being a werewolf Stiles would be in danger. Like the life threatening kind.

Did he really think he was capable of loving someone who would try to kill his sister at the first indication of weirdness?

Scott turned the last corner and cruised his bike into the school parking lot. He spotted Stiles’ jeep automatically. He swerved around the bumper of Jackson’s porsche and halted at the bike rack. Stiles was waiting for him, and she had a white paper bag in her hand.

“Tell me those are from O Taste and See*?” Scott asked as he pulled his helmet off.

“Would they be from anywhere else?” she wondered, shaking the bag a little.

Scott grinned and finished locking up his bike as Jackson and Danny got out of Jackson’s car. Lydia and Allison appeared shortly after. (She really was pretty.) Scott reached out, making grabby hands “Gimmie!”

Stiles laughed and opened the bag and held it out. Scott reached in and pulled out one of his favorite things. A bear claw. He took a delighted bite of the pastry. He knew there was a reason he’d had to skip breakfast.

“What’s got you so happy?” Scott asked around a mouthful.

Stiles wrinkled her nose as she offered the bag to Danny “Chew and swallow Scottie.”

Danny selected his own pastry with a thank you as Scott tried to speed chew. Stiles offered the bag to Lydia “These aren’t Stiles-is-happy pastries, these are bribery pastries.”

“But you are happy?”

“I’m ecstatic” Stiles said, caving and shaking the bag in Jackson’s face. Jackson gave her the evil eye, but took one of the offered treats. “But that’s besides the point.”

Scott took the bag happily when she offered it to him. There were still two left. “So why are you bribing me.”

“I need you to let me off the hook tomorrow.”

Scott whined “But the test is on Monday! You said you’d be my study buddy!”

“And I will” Stiles said gently. “We’ll study on Sunday, I’ll get pizza.”

“But Sunday is family night!”

Stiles sighed and tucked herself between Danny and Jackson so that Scott couldn’t reach her with his sticky fingers. Jackson gave her a raised eyebrow. “I’m trying something new, and tomorrow is the only day I can.”

“What are you trying and why can’t I come?” Scott asked, following closely behind the group, grabbing onto the back of Stiles’ sweater.

“You want to go shopping, Scott?” Lydia asked.

“Wait, what? No!”

Lydia snorted “I thought not. We’re going shopping.”

“You’re going shopping?” Scott asked, bewildered. “With Lydia?”

“And Allison” Stiles said, olive branch in hand as she turned to the tall dark haired girl. “If you want?”

Allison smiled, taking the offer for what it was “I’d like that.”

“Why?”

Stiles stopped, she grabbed at the sleeve of Jackson’s jacket. He stopped walking in surprise. He stared at the pixie haired girl in surprise as her anxiety over what she was about to say let itself out on the sleeve of her enemy.

“Lydia has excellent taste, Scott, and from what I’ve seen, so does Allison.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

Stiles and Scott stared at each other, the people around them shifted uncomfortably. Stiles’ eyes pleaded for understanding “Sometimes I want to feel like a girl.”

“You’re a girl all the time Stiles.”

“Yes, but sometimes I want to _feel_ like one” Stiles said. “Sometimes I want to wear the pretty clothes and the shoes and the makeup. Sometimes I want boys to notice me.”

Scott stared “But you don’t need that stuff.”

Stiles beamed at him “And that right there? That is why you’re my best friend.”

“Right” Scott said, sucking up his confusion. “Have fun?”

“Thank you!” Stiles swooped in and hugged him in her signature bear hug. Scott felt his feet leave the ground and he grinned helplessly, hugging her back. He liked making her happy.

Even if his ribs hurt a little after she stopped hugging him.

 

\- - -

A strong easterly wind started up that evening as the sun sank below the horizon. A small silver car zipped along the highway, passing the Beacon Hills city limits sign sometime around seven. Rain started to fall.

In the driver’s seat sat a determined looking blonde woman, her blue eyes fierce. Something dark lurked in them, marring her beauty. Next to her, tucked into the footwell of the passenger seat sat the case of a high tech, high powered rifle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * O Taste and See Treats is a bakery in Gilbert, Az that has wonderful, delightful, to die for pastries and cake. Omnomnom.
> 
> *throws Steters fluffies at everyone*


	12. Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate gets into town. Niece and Aunt have a heart to heart. There appears to be a new threat on the horizon.

 

**_Twelve:_ **

_“Before we can make friends with anyone else, we must first be friends with ourselves.”_

_~ Eleanor Roosevelt ~_

“I can’t believe you haven’t taken care of the problem yet. It’s just a lousy omega.”

Chris rolled his eyes at his sister’s greeting when he opened the front door. She shoved past him, bags in hand. “It’s a little more complicated than that, Kate.”

“How is it more complicated?”

“There’s a local pack.”

Kate turned to stare at him, raising an eyebrow “A local pack?”

“Yes. It’s small, maybe three or four, but it looks like they’re tracking the omega too.”

“So kill ‘em all” Kate said as if the answer was obvious.

Chris frowned and caught Victoria’s eye when she appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. “We follow the code, Kate. As far as we can see this pack hasn’t hurt anyone.”

“Aunt Kate!” Allison flew down the stairs and Kate caught her up in a hug, laughing. Allison grabbed one of her aunt’s bags and pulled her toward the room that would be hers.

Victoria waited until she was sure they were out of earshot “Does she know about the Hales?”

Chris ran a hand down his face “Not yet.”

“This is going to get very messy, Christopher.” Victoria said, scowl set on her face as she watched her husband walk toward her.

“It was already a mess before Kate got here.” Chris set his hands on her hips and tipped their foreheads together “Now I’ve got to contain her.”

“How bad is this going to get?” Victoria asked “Will this blow back on Allison?”

“With the Hales involved? About as bad as it can get.” Chris sighed “I’ve always suspected that Kate was the one behind the fire, and if she was…”

“They’ll want retribution” Victoria stated.

Chris nodded and the pair walked into the kitchen. He sat down at the kitchen as his wife went back to preparing dinner. “She’ll want to finish the job. The cops are already too far into this. Stilinski isn’t stupid, he’s going to figure out what happened. If it really was Kate we won’t be able to protect her.”

“Have you seen Hale yet?”

“No. When I went to the hospital there were a couple of deputies hanging around.”

“What if Hale is the alpha of this pack?”

“Then it’s not a big pack and saying that there’s more than the three we saw the other night is stupidly optimistic. It’s taken him way too long for him to heal for him to build a pack. The other two are probably the two kids that weren’t home at the time of the fire.”

Victoria pursed her lips severely. “None of this blows back on Allison, Chris. None of it” she said severely. “We came here to take a backseat to hunting. If throwing Kate to the wolves means saving our daughter from this then do it.”

Chris winced. Victoria was ferocious, one of the Argent matriarchs, but she was also a mother. They’d had so many talks about Allison’s future. “I know. Allison is going to have the choice neither of us got to have, just like we agreed.”

“Good.”

 

\- - -

“So, talk to me.”

“What?”

“Well, you rushed me up here pretty quick” Kate said as she began unpacking. “Which means you need to talk.”

“How do you make someone like you?”

Kate grinned at her niece “Is this about a boooy?”

Allison blushed a bit. Kate laughed and plopped down on the bed, taking up Allison’s hand “It is! You met a boy! What’s his name? What does he look like?”

“Scott. His name is Scott” Allison said softly. “He’s tall, but not super tall. He’s got dark hair and big puppy eyes. And he’s really nice. And I think he likes me too, but…”

“But what? If this Scott boy likes you, what’s the problem?”

“His best friend.”

Kate’s eyebrows shot up “His best friend?”

Allison curled up against the headboard and pulled a pillow into her lap “Yeah, I get the impression that Stiles doesn’t really like me that much.”

What kind of name was Stiles? “Why is this Stiles’ opinion so important?”

“Lydia told me that Scott and Stiles have known each other since preschool or something. They’ve never been apart and so if I want to spend more time with Scott I have to spend more time with Stiles.” Allison looked at her aunt with concerned eyes “She said that if I wanted more than just a couple of maybe dates that having Stiles in my corner would help.”

“Scott really values this other kid’s opinion that much?”

Allison nodded “They’re close enough that when Scott got caught out past curfew last week by Stiles’ dad, her dad was the one who grounded him.”

“Stiles is a girl? Are you sure they’re not in a relationship?”

“Yes. They’re like brother and sister” Allison said. “I mean if their parents can ground the kid that isn’t theirs then that’s significant, right?”

“So you befriend this Stiles girl and everyone lives happily ever after.” Kate said “What’s the problem?”

“The problem is that I don’t think Stiles likes me, like at all. She puts up this front like she’s being nice because she knows Scott likes me, but really she’s hoping it won’t work out.”

“So change her mind. Make her like you to, then she’ll be pushing Scott at you.”

“How?”

“Well, invite her out. This Lydia girl is your friend, maybe you could all do a girl’s night or something” Kate suggested with a shrug.

“Stiles did invite me to go shopping with her and Lydia tomorrow.”

“See, she’s trying! So go shopping and convince this chick to like you so that you can have the boy!”

Allison smiled up at her aunt “Yeah, I think I will.”

 

\- - -

The howl rang out long and loud and clear. Stiles sat bolt upright and slid out of bed with a thud. Her bedroom door opened slamming into the wall and bouncing back. Derek charged in, fangs bared, eyes glowing.

“Ow” Stiles muttered. She pushed herself to her feet and made her way across her bed to her window, Derek close behind. “Dude” she hissed. “ _Pants_!”

Derek ignored her as they both peered out the window into the dark of the night. “That wasn’t Peter.”

Stiles knew he was right. She knew Peter’s howl. “Who was it?”

Derek shook his head “I don’t know, but I don’t like it.”

Stiles looked up at him seriously “It’s going to be bad, isn’t it?”

“With the hunters in town? Yes.”

Stiles shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. Derek looked conflicted for a moment before he awkwardly patted her shoulder. “Peter will know what to do. I’ll run the preserve tomorrow and check it out.”

“Yeah.”

They both heard it at the same time. The steady cadence of someone running, and the steady beat of a werewolf’s heart rapidly approaching. They peered out the window, catching the glint of red eyes and Stiles quickly reached out and pulled the window open. Peter appeared in the light of the street lamps and with two very impressive leaps landed in a crouch on the eaves of the roof next to Stiles’ window.

His Alpha eyes took in both of his Betas. “Your father?”

“He’s at the station” Stiles said softly. Peter had heard the howl and come to check on them. He must have already been near by because the hospital was a twenty minute drive from the Stilinski house. She kept the hope that he had been on his way to see her to herself.

“Are you sure?”

“I talked to him an hour ago.” Stiles backed away from the sill and Peter slipped into the room gracefully.

“Derek.”

Derek nodded once and was out the door. A few moments later he was dressed and headed out the door.

“He’s just checking to make sure he’s ok, right?” Stiles whispered.

“Yes” Peter reassured. “I’m sure he’s fine, but…”

“We’re still a new pack and after everything you need to know we’re ok.”

“Yes.” Peter set his hands on her shoulders and drew her into him. She went willingly and breathed in deeply, calming quickly.

“What about Scott?”

“I have yet to meet your brother” Peter explained. “So he isn’t pack quite yet. He won’t be targeted.”

“It was another wolf, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think it was a pack?”

“No” Peter shook his head as he ran his fingers through her hair. “A pack wouldn’t have announced themselves like that. There are protocols for things like that. No, it’s probably an omega.”

“Why would an omega come here?”

“Aside from the nice big forest to hide in?”

The pieces quickly slotted into place and her grip around Peter’s middle tightened “You just became Alpha. It thinks you’ll be easy pickings and then it would be an Alpha.”

“Clever girl” Peter said approvingly.

“It’ll die trying” Stiles growled, making Peter grin and press a kiss into the crown of her head.

They stood like that for a few minutes, scenting each other (and by proxy scent-marking each other) until Stiles’ phone beeped, the little led light flashing. She separated from Peter reluctantly and went over to the nightstand to look at the message.

“Derek says Papa’s just fine. He’s going to run the perimeter of the Preserve and then come home.”

“Tell him no unnecessary chances. I want him back in one piece.”

Stiles quickly tapped out the message and put her phone back down. She turned back to her Alpha, suddenly very aware that she was wearing a pair of tiny sleep shorts and a tank top. She wrapped her arms around her torso.

“Stiles?”

Another howl rent through the night and Stiles shuddered. Yeah, she was a big scary werewolf now, but that didn’t make that sound any less creepifying.

“Will you stay?” she asked in a small voice.

Peter was across the room in an instant “Of course. Why don’t you get back in bed?”

Stiles nodded and crawled back under the covers. When she rolled over to face Peter she blushed. He was toeing off his shoes and unbuttoning his shirt. She pulled the covers up over her nose and closed her eyes, rolling back over. The blanket lifted and the bed dipped. Peter slid in behind her and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close.

He pressed a kiss to her shoulder and murmured “Sleep.”

And she did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where did all this plot come from I ask you? I had originally planned a super fluffy fic... not this monstrosity. Now I apparently have plans.
> 
> AvengingPhoenix is an angel, as always, for putting up with me.


	13. Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles, Lydia and Allison go shopping and start being friends. Peter and Derek discuss the new threat.

**_Thirteen:_ **

_“It saddened me that sometimes shopping was far more perilous than dealing with zombies and vampires.”_

_~ Anton Strout, Dead Waters ~_

Stiles fell down the stairs on Saturday morning. Well, she didn’t fall down _all_ of them. Just the last five or so. She ignored her father and Derek who were standing at the kitchen island with mugs of coffee, laughing at her. She finished pulling on her shoe, stole a slice of Jeorek’s toast and left the house with a wave goodbye.

She paused on the porch for a second to remove her hoodie, untangle it, and then put it back on correctly.

“Are you coming or what?”

Stiles grinned and got into Lydia’s car quickly. She was inexplicably happy about this expedition. She wasn’t usually the biggest fan of shopping, but then, Stiles hadn’t really been shopping for clothes with another female since her mother had passed. She was crossing her fingers that it was as fun as she remembered.

She slid into the middle of the backseat “Hi Allison.”

“Hey Stiles” Allison replied, offering her a smile.

“Good morning” Lydia said. “Tell me what you’re looking for here Stiles.”

“Oh, um…” Stiles swallowed nervously and played with the zipper on her sweater “I want to feel like a girl. I mean, I love my clothes and I still want to look like me, but a lot of the time I feel like everybody forgets I’m a girl, you know?”

“Okay, that I can work with” Lydia said as she floored the gas pedal and they shot off down the street. “You’re a pants girl, so how do you feel about dresses.”

“I haven’t worn one in years, so I’m gonna reserve judgement…”

“But?”

“Well, there’s this guy - “

Lydia whipped around so fast Stiles felt like she had secondhand whiplash. “A boy? There’s a boy?”

“Watch the road!” Stiles and Allison yelped.

Lydia turned back around, then demanded “Tell me everything, now.”

“Uh - “

“Oh, don’t worry” Lydia said sweetly. “By the time this day is over, not only will you be walking in shoes like mine like a boss, but I’ll be a major contender for Scott’s role as your best friend.”

Stiles’ eyebrows went up in disbelief “You seem really certain about that.”

“Don’t dodge. Tell me about the guy.”

“Lydia.”

“Look, both Allison and I will swear not to tell a soul” Lydia reasoned. “As long as it’s not Danny, we’re golden.”

“It’s not Danny.”

Allison angled her body so that she could see both of the other girls in the car. “Is it a teacher?”

“What?! NO!”

“But he is older?” Lydia said. Stiles nodded. Lydia’s eyes narrowed “A lot older?”

“Ten years.”

“Holy shit, Stiles” Allison said with wide eyes. “That makes him like, twenty-six.”

“twenty-seven.”

Lydia and Allison exchanged a disbelieving look. Carefully Lydia spoke “Stiles. Are you sure this guy is worth it? It’s a lot to do to try to catch a guy’s attention.”

“Not to mention your Dad’s the Sheriff” Allison said, not unkindly.

Stiles clenched her hands and looked up, meeting Allison’s gaze and then Lydia’s in the rearview mirror “He’s not the reason why I want to do this. He just made me get up the guts to ask.”

“Okay, but still, ten years is a big gap.”

“Not really. It only seems like it because I’m not eighteen. If we were freshmen in college no one would look twice at it.”

“Okay, you have a point there” Lydia conceded.

“Is he worth the risk?” Allison asked softly.

Stiles looked her in the eye again “If I can get him to see me the way I want him to, he’s the kind of guy who would wait for me until I turn eighteen.”

“Really? That’s two years.”

“Yes.”

Lydia and Allison exchanged a look and a flash of understanding passed between them. Allison looked back to Stiles and asked softly “So, what’s his name?”

Stiles grinned thankfully “Peter. His name is Peter.”

As the car headed for the mall a friendship between three girls slid solidly into place.

\- - -

Derek slipped into his Uncle’s hospital room and watched from the corner as Peter finished his therapy and the PT guy left. Peter caught sight of him and rolled his eyes, exasperated. Derek bit his lip to keep the smile off his face.

“So, what’s the verdict?” Peter asked Dr. Matthews, who was flipping through Peter’s chart.

“You’re doing very well with the physical therapy. You aced the cognitive tests. I think so long as you take it easy and come back for therapy three times a week, you could go home monday or tuesday.”

“Really?”

“Yes, as long as you have someone to be there for you” Dr. Matthews said strictly. “No fending for yourself for at least another eight weeks.”

“That’s what I’m for, Doc.”

The Doctor turned and Derek introduced himself, then explained “We’ll be staying with the Sheriff for a few weeks while I look for an apartment.”

Dr. Matthews’ eyebrows rose in surprise “You know the Sheriff.”

“Yes, sir” Derek said. “We’ve had some upheaval in the family recently and the Sheriff’s been very good to us.”

“Yes, yes, he’s a good man.” Dr. Matthews said “Is the apartment your long term plan?”

“No,” Peter interrupted. “I’ve been thinking about rebuilding the house, but that will take time.”

“Of course, of course. Two more sessions here and we’ll see about getting you released.”

“Sounds lovely.”

The doctor left and Peter turned to his nephew seriously. “What did you find?”

“I ran the line that faces the town. I got a scent up near Miller’s Crossing, but I lost it in the water a mile in.” Derek scrubbed a tired hand down his face. Right now he was running on adrenaline and caffeine. “I caught it around the house too.”

Peter’s expression went blank. “We can’t risk the hunters thinking this omega is one of ours. We’ll need to run regular patrols through the Preserve. Hopefully we’ll find this omega before they do.”

“What if they think it’s us?” Derek asked “They know we’re here.”

“Christopher Argent is not an idiot. He’ll have seen that I’m up and about and put two and two together. He probably already knows that I’m the Alpha of the Hale Pack.”

“What about Stiles and I?”

“He’ll probably figure you out, and assume that Stiles is Laura by association.”

“Stiles can’t run patrols.”

“No. She needs to remain incognito for as long as possible.” Peter sighed “If something happens to her - “

“She’s what pulled you out of it, isn’t she?” Derek wondered.

“Yes.”

“Then she’ll be safe. We’re a pack now Uncle Peter. All four of us.”

“With the possibility of more, it appears.”

Derek nodded.

“Go get some sleep. I want you to run a patrol this evening. I’ll run one later tonight.”

This would become a pattern in the next few weeks. This was what a pack did. They protected and defended their territory, and right now they were being invaded on two fronts.

\- - -

Lydia and Allison were arguing over cut and style and color. Stiles was exhausted and basically prepared to just collapse to the ground. She’d been dragged all over kingdom come by a redheaded demon with her father’s gold card.

Lydia had insisted on paying for everything. And they were starting at the bottom. They started in Victoria’s Secret with a very embarrassing bra fitting (she was apparently a B cup, who knew?). Lydia had barged into the dressing room halfway through, scaring the crap out of the sales girl.

Seven sets of matching, lacy (in varied colors) underwear later (“Come _on_ , Stiles. You need at least one for every day.”) and Stiles had been dragged from the store clutching a very telling pink bag in one hand. Allison had followed mildly behind, amused. Lydia had dragged her into Sephora and forced her into a chair.

It was here that the two girls had joined forces. They had debated color and brands whether Stiles was ivory or fair. They collected a pile of products while Stiles sat through a basic tutorial with an amused woman who taught her about concealer and how mineral powders were the best kind of foundation. Stiles left the store with a little bit of everything and a promise from Lydia to teach her how to use it all.

By that time Allison had really gotten into it. They’d dragged her from store to store. She had new jeans, shirts for all occasions. At one point Stiles snuck off during a spat and they found her twenty minutes later eating the second half of a footlong Subway sandwich.

They looked at shoes in every store. Stiles insisted and got a new pair of Tardis blue chucks. She ended up with a very nice pair of grey knee high boots with some awesome buckles. She was subjected to an impromptu walking lesson when Stiles found a pair of silky deep green heels that she had picked up and couldn’t put down.

“Figures it would be the shoes” Lydia said as she set down her share of the bags. “Well?”

“Well what?”

“Put them on of course!” Lydia insisted.

Allison helpfully took her bags, and Stiles sat down to try the shoes on. This was one thing she knew. She knew how shoes fit her feet. She stuck her feet out in front of her with a grin, admiring the pretty stilettos.

“Okay, get up.”

“What? Here?”

“Why not?”

So Stiles stood up and tottered around for a few minutes, taking in the advice about center of balance and straight posture until she steadied on her feet.

They took a break after that. Bags were delivered to Lydia’s car and they went to lunch. Despite the sandwich, Stiles went ahead and ate again anyway. Then the three girls went looking for dresses specifically.

Now here she was. She was tired, her feet hurt. They’d found three dresses that Stiles liked that all three of them could agree on. One in blue, one in purple and the third a wispy pale yellow. Lydia was insisting on one more. Stiles just wanted to be done. She bent her head side to side and then twisted her torso.

And paused.

She drifted away from the argument and wandered over to the rack that held it. She touched the skirt. It was a rich cream satin with a high halter top. The skirt was cut with four points and would probably fall just below her knees. It was patterned with a beautiful spray of vines and flowers around the hem and trailing up the skirt in various places in a gorgeous deep emerald. There was a wide ribbon around the waist, high, but not high enough to be considered empire. The ribbon and the bodice of the dress were the same green as the pattern on the bottom.

Stiles picked it up and turned it this way and that. The skirt swished and she knew a twirl would be fabulous. There were a series of little buttons going up the back, cleverly concealing the zipper.

The green matched the shoes exactly.

Stiles quickly fetched her size and turned, marching over to Lydia and Allison. “This one.”

Lydia stopped talking and turned. Both she and Allison gazed at the dress for a moment.

“It matches the shoes” Allison offered with a smile.

“It’s a little fancy for every day” Lydia said.

“Let’s face the fact that I’m not an everyday dress kind of girl” Stiles deadpanned. “I’ll wear it to the dance.”

Lydia grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I might have gone overboard on describing the dress, but I couldn't help myself. I had this vision in my head and I had to fulfill it.
> 
> No more shopping sprees, promise. Idek why I did other than to have an excuse not to have to do in depth bonding with the girls. Here have a day at the mall, become friends!
> 
> Anyway, thank you to AvengingPhoenix as always for putting up with my crazy.
> 
> And thank you to everyone who reads and enjoys and comments and kudos. 8)


	14. Fourteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter is a good Alpha.

 

**_Fourteen:_ **

_“The only real valuable thing is intuition.”_

_~ Albert Einstein ~_

The week that follows is quiet. School comes and school goes. Even though she’s decided that Allison is ok, Stiles still doesn’t like the idea of Scott and Allison. She spends approximately fifteen minutes wondering if it’s because she doesn’t want to share her best friend. Then decided that no, that isn’t the reason. Mostly it’s because whether she knows it or not, Allison is from a family of hunters.

Peter gets released from the hospital on Monday. The Sheriff picks him up on his lunch break and they spend the car ride to the house going over house rules, rules for being around his kid, and the rules of being a human in a werewolf pack. Jeorek takes _that_ little tidbit about as well as a rock to the head.

Scott meets Peter at the house on Tuesday when he shows up around dinner time with a desperate look on his face and his chemistry book clutched in white knuckled hands. Scott actively tells Derek to go jump off a cliff when he realizes that the tall, scruffy dude that just came through the back door is the same douche that chucked his inhaler at his head that day in the woods.

Scott threatens to kill Peter casually over dinner if anything were to happen to Stiles. As if threatening a slightly unhinged Alpha werewolf is an everyday occurrence.

Peter grins delightedly at the floppy haired boy and says: “Oh I like you. I’m keeping you.”

So the pack grows from four to five.

Stiles runs patrol with Derek in the afternoons after school, to help lessen his load. He takes to teaching her how to track in the forest. It goes mostly all right. She and Derek come to a mutual agreement that being packmates won’t be a bad thing after all.

Like clockwork every Wednesday, Stiles brings her dad lunch at the Station. They eat healthy sandwiches and Jeorek grumps about the baggie of celery and carrot sticks that accompanies his sub. Stiles smirks at him and shoves a handful of curly fries into her mouth. They hadn’t been able to spend a lot of time together just them recently, so they enjoy the time.

Thursday morning Allison’s aunt drops her off at school. The tall blonde gets out of the car because she wants to meet her niece's new friends. She teases Allison and plays nice with her friends for five minutes. Stiles spends the whole time growling under her breath and clutching at Jackson’s sweater.

Later he’ll find tears in it, like claw marks. Right where she’d been gripping it. The wheels in his head start turning. That night he decides that the hyperactive freak that McCall hangs out with deserves closer observation.

In Chemistry that day, Stiles notices something strange. There’s a strangely familiar scent in the air, and her skin felt electrified. She tried to be subtle about scanning the classroom, but since Harris had it out for her, she ended up with detention anyway. Sufficiently distracted, Stiles forgot all about the strange smell until they were leaving class and a tall, curly haired boy passed in front of him.

_She knew that smell._

It couldn’t be placed though. It was familiar, but apparently wasn’t feeling like revealing itself. She puzzled over it all the way through detention and the entire drive home. It wasn’t until she stepped into the house that day that that it hit her. The scent lingered in her home. Here it felt comfortable and it meant pack.

_The tall blonde dude was a werewolf._

On her way up the stairs, Stiles pulled out her phone and dialed Scott’s number. She knocked her fist against Derek’s door frame as she passed and the other wolf looked up. A tip of her head and he was following her into her room.

 _“Hey, sis!”_ Scott’s answered his phone happily _“How was detention with Harris?”_

“It was detention” Stiles said as she tapped the speaker button on her phone. Neither wolf needed it, but Scott would. “Who was that kid sitting next to Greenburg in Chem?”

_“What?”_

“You know, tall, blonde, curly hair?” Stiles prompted. “I think he’s on the lacrosse team.”

_“Who, Isaac?”_

“Isaac?”

 _“Yeah, Isaac Lahey. He digs graves out at the cemetery_ ” Scott said as if it was both fascinating and creepy. It sort of was. _“Why?”_

Stiles met Derek’s gaze. His expressive eyebrows wanted to know what he was doing here. “I think he’s a werewolf” she said, and watched Derek’s eyebrows skyrocket.

“What makes you say that?” the older wolf demanded.

Stiles toed off her shoes and set down her phone while Scott exclaimed about _more_ werewolves in his life. “He smells like the house does now. That sort of earthy electric smell.”

“Does he know?”

“I don’t know!”

 _“Couldn’t we just ask him?_ ” Scott wondered.

“What? Like, ‘Oh, hey, Isaac. I know we’re not friends, but do you occasionally grow fangs and howl at the moon?’”

_“Well, maybe not that.”_

“Do you think he was the one we heard the other night?” Stiles asked, looking over at Derek as she hit the power button on her laptop.

“It’s possible” Derek said thoughtfully. “If it was he hasn’t been a werewolf very long.”

 _“How can you know that?”_ Scott asked. _“Is it a smell thing? Can you tell how long someone’s been a werewolf by how they smell?”_

“No.” Derek said “Stiles has been a wolf long enough to tell. With her bond to Peter she’d have realized it long before now.”

_“Another alpha, then?”_

“Probably. The question is who’s the Alpha.” Derek peered over Stiles’ shoulder as she used her father’s password to gain access to the Sheriff’s Department database. She entered in a search for Isaac Lahey.

“What the real question is” Stiles said, brain going rapid fire as she scanned the screen. “Does Isaac have any idea what’s happening to him, or is he trying to figure this out on his own… Damn.”

“What?”

“He’s been flagged by hospital personnel. Multiple times.”

Scott hissed over the line just as Derek said “What does that mean?”

_“It means he’s being abused by someone.”_

 

\- - -

Isaac Lahey was freaking out. Ever since that, that _thing_ had bitten him last week. He shuddered and look around the empty cemetery cautiously. Being out here (especially at this time of day) was just creepifying now. Usually he lingered over his grounds keeping duties, putting off going home to his dad. He couldn’t bring himself to do that now.

He’d been attacked in this cemetery. Attacked by a giant monster that had bitten him and dragged him into the woods.

Isaac’s hand went to his side, covering a place where a ragged wound had been only a few days ago. It had healed so quickly, and now everything was different. He could hear things, and smells things no one should be able to.

He’d _gotten out of the freezer_ last night.

Also, there were the claws. Oh, and the fangs. Isaac had fangs now.

“Hello, Isaac.”

Isaac spun,  lifting the shovel in his hand threateningly. About ten feet away, leaning against a tombstone, stood a man with red eyes. Isaac’s heartbeat sped up, was he here to finish the job?

The man lifted his hands placatingly “Calm down, Isaac. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“How do I know that? You already bit me!”

“I didn’t bite you Isaac” he said, eyes going from that bright red to just a normal light blue. “Think about it, you know I didn’t bite you.”

Isaac stared at the man. He wasn’t lying. He didn’t know how he knew that, but he wasn’t lying. “Then who did?” Isaac demanded.

“Someone like me. An Alpha.”

“An Alpha what?”

“Werewolf.”

Isaac let out a hysterical little laugh. Of course. Werewolves. Why not?

“How else do you explain it? The healing. The increased senses. The claws?”

The shovel in Isaac’s hand lowered “Why are you here?”

The man smiled at him (it was a little creepy, Isaac was willing to admit) “I know you’re scared. My name is Peter Hale, and I’m here to help you.”

“Help me how?”

“Beacon Hills belongs to the Hale Pack. The Alpha that bit you was a rogue passing through. I’ve come to answer any questions you might have. I came to offer you a place in my pack.”

“Your pack.”

“Yes. Werewolves are social creatures, Isaac.” Peter explained “Our pack is our family.”

That word, family, caught Isaac’s attention, which in turn caught Peter’s. Peter offered the teen another smile (less creepy this time) “Pack offers protection, a safe place to go and be, somewhere you will always belong. My pack is small, just three wolves and two humans, but I think you might be a good fit.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Think about it” Peter offered. “Take as much time as you want. If you have any questions you are welcome to come to me, or you can ask Stiles.”

“Stilinski?”

“Yes.”

“She’s in your pack?”

“Yes. As are the McCall boy and the Sheriff.”

Isaac didn’t know what to think, he was so confused. Peter could see this so he cautioned the boy to be careful. They didn’t know for sure yet if the Alpha that had bitten him had actually left town yet. He also cautioned him about the hunters in town and urged him to go home.

Isaac nodded reflexively and watched the Alpha (Werewolf!) leave the cemetery. He looked around and shuddered again. He had a lot of thinking to do.

 

\- - -

The diner on sixth street was one of those twenty-four hour greasy spoons. The sign above the door (in neon) read ‘Mae’s’, the decor was old, cheap and tacky (they had tried for retro chic, but had missed the mark). People didn’t come to Mae’s for the decor. They didn’t even come here for the food (though Larry did, admittedly, make a mean cheeseburger); they came here for the coffee and the pie. Sally Mae made excellent pie.

Mae’s was a favorite haunt of both police and firefighters; as well as the emergency medical cabal. Chris like it because the coffee really was good, and he could sit in a booth for hours and not be bothered. Nobody stuck their nose outside their booth here.

Which was why it was so odd for someone to stop next to his table. Chris looked up and he stopped breathing for a moment, eyes widening. His eyes darted around the diner. There were four deputies seated at the counter, and a pair of tired looking nurses at the corner table.

“Hello, Christopher,” Peter Hale said conversationally, a pleasant smile on his face. He sat down congenially across from Chris. “You and I need to have a little chat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cackles evilly*
> 
> Sorry, I couldn't resist. More soon. 8)
> 
> As always, great thank you to AvengingPhoenix, who is the long suffering beta who puts up with my insecurities and enthusiasm.
> 
> *disapears into the bushes*


	15. Fifteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris and Peter chat. Stiles bribes people with baked goods.

 

**_Fifteen:_ **

_“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.”_

_~ Carl Jung ~_

Chris wished that he could reach for the .45 under his jacket. They were in public though, and surrounded by police officers. Hale had probably counted on that. Chris scowled at the man across from him. The expression on Peter’s face was mild, but the look in his eyes was sharp, focused.

“What do we need to talk about?” Chris demanded, keeping his voice even.

Peter’s head tilted slightly to the side in that universal way of dogs everywhere “The omega, of course.”

“Of course.”

“It isn’t an omega.”

Chris raised a brow in surprise “Then what is it?”

“An Alpha.”

That made him pause. A rogue Alpha in previously undefended territory. He met Peter’s gaze “Why are you telling me?”

“It bit someone on thursday evening.”

Chris jerked in surprise. His eyes widened “So now we have to deal with two?”

“No” stated Peter flatly. “I’ve already spoken with the new wolf, I’ll be taking it in. I want this Alpha dead, and you’re the best path to doing so.”

Chris’ eyes narrowed at the Alpha sitting across from him in silence as a server appeared with a cup of coffee for Peter and a carafe to refill Chris’ own cup. They waited until she was out of earshot before Chris spoke. “It could issue a challenge.”

“If the Alpha was going to challenge me it would have done so the night it killed Laura.”

This was new. This was interesting. “The body in the woods?”

“Yes.”

“They still haven’t found the other half, have they?”

“No, and while Jeorek assures me that they’re doing their utmost, I don’t think they will.”

Peter Hale was on a first name basis with the Sheriff of Beacon Hills. That complicated an already complicated situation. Chris watched Peter stir a bit of cream into his coffee and take a sip.

“Either you and yours kill this rogue or I will have to.” Peter stated like he was talking about the weather “Nothing will stop me from protecting my pack, Argent.”

There was a hiss of fury in that last word. It made Chris sit up and take notice. Really look at the man. Peter looked outwardly calm, maybe even a little bored. To the untrained eye he looked perfectly relaxed. To Chris, well, not so much. Every line of Peter’s body was taught, tense and ready for anything. He was furious.

Chris nodded carefully “We’ll do what we can.”

Peter nodded and rose. He dropped a five dollar bill on the table for the coffee. As he did he leaned over Chris, eyes bleeding a furious ruby red. Chris resisted the urge to lean away.

“Word of advice.” Peter said, then his voice revealed the amount of rage burning within him. “Get your murdering bitch of a sister _out of my town_. If I see her I _will_ rip her throat out. _With my teeth_.”

Chris watched Peter stroll out of the diner and then sagged in his seat, head falling into his hand as he rubbed at his temple. He’d always suspected, but this…

“Oh Kate, what have you done?”

 

\- - -

Friday was a little bit like what torture must feel like. At least, that was what Isaac figured. When he got to school that morning he’d had very little (none at all really) sleep. He’d spent the night thinking about what Peter had said. Then being confused, because werewolves weren’t really supposed to be _real_. Then he’d go back to freaking out, because he was a _werewolf_.

When he got to school one of the first things he did was see Stilinski and McCall standing by the bike rack. He watched them until Stiles looked up and caught his eye. They stared at each other for what felt like eternity before she nodded at him cautiously.

Isaac fled into the building.

All day was spent either avoiding Stiles and Scott (who suddenly seemed to be _everywhere_ ) or seeking them out. He just couldn’t make up his mind. On one hand he wanted nothing at all to do with any of this, but on the other…

On the other hand he sort of liked the whole pack idea. Of belonging. Of having a real family.

He somehow managed to convince Coach that he wasn’t feeling well enough to play, so Isaac got to spend practice on the bench. He wasn’t really sure what kind of damage he could do with his new strength, and he’d really rather not accidentally kill one of his teammates.

It was here that his luck ran out.

Stiles sat down next to him as if sitting on the team bench was an everyday occurrence for her (it was last year at least). She beamed him a tentative smile and offered him a tupperware container. He could smell the brownies through the plastic.

“Peace offering.” Stiles said, nudging him in the arm with the container “They’re not poisoned.”

“You sure about that?” Isaac asked.

“Yep” Stiles popped the ‘p’ with a mischievous look. “Scott’s eaten enough of them today that if they were, he’d have died three hours ago.”

Isaac’s eyes flashed over to Scott on the field just in time to watch Jackson tackle him. Both wolves winced in sympathy.

“I know that all of this is new” Stiles said softly. “And it completely sucks that your Alpha left you alone when he bit you. Peter isn’t like that though. He never left me. Not once since he bit me. He’s answered every question I could come up with, even the stupid ones.”

Isaac reluctantly opened his mouth, but Stiles interrupted.

“Look, your Alpha’s a raging douche. Pack is about family, and if you want it you can be part of ours. It’s just Peter, Derek, Scott, my Dad and me, but we’re pretty awesome.”

“Why do you want me?”

“Everyone needs someone, Isaac.” Stiles said as if it was obvious “Wolves are stronger together.”

“So you want me because I’ll make you guys stronger?”

“No, not entirely. Look, tomorrow afternoon we’re grilling because Dad got the night off, and then us wolves are going running. Why don’t you come? You can see what we’re like, maybe try it on for size?” Stiles wiggled the tupperware she was still holding. Isaac reluctantly took it. She beamed “If you decide you don’t want to be part of the Hale Pack, we’ll leave you alone. Ok?”

Isaac looked down at the tupperware in his hand so that he wouldn’t have to look at her.

“Think about it, ok?” Stiles said, getting up. “If you do decide to come, 4 o’clock, 327 Euclid.”

Isaac nodded and watched as she bounced up into the bleachers to sit down with Lydia and Allison. He looked down and smiled a little. The brownies really did smell good. He pried off the lid easily and pulled out a soft square of chocolatey goodness dotted with little white chocolate chips. He took a bite and grinned.

Up in the stands Stiles beamed. She knew it. She watched as Isaac scarfed down the first brownie and then retrieve another. That boy needed somebody to feed him, and cuddle him and make him feel wanted. She could do that, she decided.

She turned back to the conversation that (more like debate) Lydia and Allison were having.

 

\- - -

“We’ll need to add one more person to the list for tomorrow, Papa.”

Jeorek looked up at the door of his office, bewildered. Stiles stood there with a tupperware container under one arm. “Hey Jitterbug.”

Stiles entered the room and popped a kiss onto his cheek. He reached for the container of brownies and she pulled it away.

“Oh, come on!”

“We still have plenty at home.”

A mutinous look crossed the Sheriff’s face “You made me eat brussels sprouts last night, Stiles.”

“Oh, all right.”

Victory! Jeorek snatched a large brownie when she offered him the open container. Take what you can while it’s still on offer, that’s his philosophy. He grinned around the first bite, closing his eyes and humming happily.

After a minute of bliss for him, and amusement for his daughter, Jeorek asked: “One more?”

“Dinner. We’ve invited a boy at school.”

“The one who got bitten last week?”

“Yes. Isaac Lahey.”

“Another werewolf.”

Stiles nodded.

“When exactly did we start running the Stilinski Home for Wayward Werewolves?”

Stiles grinned “The day your daughter brought one home with her.”

“Yeah, yeah” Jeorek waved her off. “I’ll see you at home, Jitterbug.”

Stiles gave her father another kiss on the cheek and scampered from the room. A minute later he could hear happy exclamations from his staff as she appeared with the brownies. Only his kid could talk him into becoming what basically counted as the old wise one of a pack of werewolves.

He shook his head and went back to enjoying his brownie. His life had become an episode of a teen drama, and somehow he was okay with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate this chapter. The words just would not come. Hopefully the rest will come easier.
> 
> Up next: Isaac meets the pack, Steter fluffies and Argent Family Fight Night.


	16. Sixteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Argent Family Fight Night. Isaac meets the pack.

 

**_Sixteen:_ **

_"Families are messy. Immortal families are eternally messy. Sometimes the best we can do is to remind each other that we're related for better or for worse...and try to keep the maiming and killing to a minimum."_

_~ Rick Riordan ~_

Victoria Argent only really cared about two things in this life. Her daughter and her husband. Everything else could, would, and had taken a backseat to the safety and happiness of her family. If that meant that people found her cold, even cruel, so be it.

When Chris came home that afternoon (well after he should have been), he had looked at her grimly and said: "We need to talk." She knew that whatever he had to say was about to alter her world irreparably. When he closed them up in his office she knew, just knew, that this was about Kate.

"What happened?" Victoria demanded.

Chris sighed and took a moment to place his .45 in the drawer.  He sat down and gestured to the other chair. Victoria sat down, feeling somewhat worried now.

"Peter Hale stopped to see me at Mae's." Victoria hissed, eyes narrowing. Chris raised his hand "He wanted to talk."

"What happened that could drive one of _them_ to talk to us?"

"The werewolf we're looking for is an Alpha." Victoria inhaled sharply. Chris continued "An Alpha that not only killed one of Peter's wolves, but bit a teenager last week."

"An Alpha complicates things. What about this new wolf?"

"Peter says he's taking care of it, but Vic, he's furious. The wolf that was killed was Laura Hale."

" _Shit_."

Victoria knew that the Alpha of the local pack coming directly to the hunters meant they either had to take care of the problem or _get out of the way_. With the dead wolf being one of the Alpha's last remaining relatives it meant that if the hunters got in the way Peter Hale had no problem going _through_ them.

The expression on her husband's face said there was more to this. Victoria tactfully remained silent, waiting for Chris to gather his thoughts and speak.

"He confirmed our suspicions."

"Oh?"

"Kate is responsible for the Hale fire."

 

\- - -

Isaac stood on the porch for fifteen minutes. He couldn’t decide if he was trying to talk himself into knocking, or into leaving. He wasn’t really sure about anything anymore. Inside the house he could hear voices, so they knew he was there.

 _“How long d’you think he’s gonna stand there?”_ Scott, peeking through the curtains.

 _“Just open the door already.”_ A voice Isaac didn’t know, grumpy sounding.

 _“Leave him be.”_ Stiles. _“He’ll knock when he’s ready. Here, take these outside to Papa.”_

Two sets of footsteps retreated from the house. There was silence for a bit. Isaac heard someone stand from a slightly creaky chair and a few heavy footfalls. There was another bit of silence.

 _“They’re big boys, they can take care of themselves.”_ That was Peter, Isaac would never forget that voice.

 _“They shouldn’t have to.”_ Stiles said back. _“Are you trying to tell me not to mother them? Because I’ve been mothering Papa for years and Scott for even longer.”_

 _“No. Never.”_ Peter assured. _“I would never take that role from you.”_

Isaac let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Why was this affecting him so much? He contemplated the front door of the Stilinski house. He swallowed. He wanted that. That reassurance and the comfortable feeling and maybe even the babying Stiles apparently had a habit of doling out.

Isaac raised his hand, and he knocked.

 _“Go on then”_ he heard Peter say. _“We’ll be outside.”_

The blond boy listened to footsteps and then the door swung open. Stiles met his gaze with a grin of her own and Isaac blushed.

“Glad you came, dude!” Stiles exclaimed, throwing the dish towel she had in one hand over her shoulder. She reached out and grabbed his wrist and gently pulled him into the house. As soon as the door closed Isaac found himself folded into a hug. He stiffened up for what felt like eternity, then something in him caused him to bury his head in her neck and inhale deeply. It took him second to realize that she was doing the same, even if she was up on her tiptoes. Isaac’s arms had enclosed her back and he’d lifted her nearly off her feet. Stiles wasn’t short by any means, but all the men in her life had several inches on her, Isaac most of all.

Stiles eventually pulled away and smiled up at him “That’s called scenting. Packmates do it. It reassures and reaffirms. feels good, huh?”

Isaac nodded.

“Come on, Papa’s grilling out back.”

Stiles led him through the house, stopping in the kitchen to retrieve a big bowl of salad, and out onto the back porch. Isaac took in the scene from the top of the steps as Stiles made her way over to the picnic table just in time to witness Melissa McCall slap her son’s hands away from the plate of cookies the nurse had brought with her.

Scott had lasted all of about two days before cracking under pressure and telling his mother all about the werewolves.

Peter had been banned from turning her child under threat of death.

Stiles set the bowl of salad down and wandered over to the grill where a tall black haired guy was standing next to the Sheriff. The Sheriff looked odd, if only because he was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. He had mirrored aviators on his face, a beer in one hand and was openly making fun of the young man for not being able to get drunk. (Apparently that was no longer something he could do as a werewolf. He’d tried.)

“It’s a bit overwhelming, I know.”

Isaac jumped and turned. Peter was standing next to him looking over the people in the yard with a proud air. The fading scars on the right side of his face made him look sinister. Like a movie villan.

Isaac watched Peter's eyes catch on Stiles. She had apparently taken some fashion advice from Lydia Martin. She was clad in hip hugging jeans and a flowy, silky shirt. It was ruined a little but by the big, bug eyed sunglasses she was wearing (in lime green), and the flip flops with little pikachus on them.

Peter didn't seem to notice, though. His eyes got all soft and Isaac knew instantly that if he wanted to be in this pack that Stiles was second only to Peter. She was Peter's, even if she didn't know it.

"I'd like to learn."

Peter turned to face Isaac fully "Are you sure? This isn't something you can take back."

Isaac nodded, determined "I'm sure."

Peter smiled at him, and Isaac felt proud to have earned that expression from (oh lord) his Alpha. The Alpha clapped him on the shoulder and led him down the steps.

"Everyone" Peter said, catching the attention of the pack. "Meet our newest pack member, Isaac."

 

\- - -

Allison could hear the raised voices from her bedroom. When she and Aunt Kate had gotten home that afternoon and her Dad had immediately pulled Kate into his office. Five minutes later her Mom had emerged from the study, face grim.

“Go up to your room, Allison.”

“Mom?”

“You have homework to finish” Victoria said, white faced but calm. “Please, Allison.”

“Is everything ok?” Allison asked.

_“FOR GOD’S SAKE KATE!”_

Both Argent women jumped as Chris’ voice roared from the study. Allison turned wide eyes on the door and then looked at her mother questioningly. The edge of her mother’s fury was showing around the grim set of her mouth.

“Allison, please go upstairs and close the door.”

“What happened?”

“Now. Allison.”

Allison had chosen not to fight over it. Picking her battles with her mother was imperative to a peaceful home life. She hadn’t closed her door though. The voices had raised and gone down. Allison bit her lip and gave in to temptation. She crept out of her room to the landing. She sank to the floor against the wall where the banister met the wall and peeked around the corner.

The door of the study flew open suddenly and Allison jumped and shrank back against the wall with a wince.

“I can’t believe this, Chris! I can’t believe you’re believing a monster over your own sister!”

“You didn’t talk to him Kate. He risked losing control in a room full of police officers to talk to me.”

Allison bit her lip and peeked around the corner again. Kate was standing by the stairs, hands on her hips. Her Dad stood in the doorway to his study. His face was grim, his eyes blue chips of ice. She had never seen him so furious.

“You have to leave, Kate.”

“With a rogue Alpha out there? I don’t think so” Kate scoffed.

“Kate” Chris’ voice held a heavy warning.

“What’s Hale going to do?”

“The Sheriff’s department has reopened the investigation into the fire.” Chris stated, steadfast “With Peter Hale awake and able to act as Alpha, he’s been working on creating a safe place for his pack. He’s on a _first name basis_ with Sheriff Stilinski.”

“People can be bought.”

“Sheriff Stilinski can’t be bought, Kate.” Allison glanced to the doorway to the kitchen where her mother had appeared. Victoria’s fury was now condensed to where she held a meat cleaver in one hand “He will figure this out, and you will go to prison.”

Kate scoffed “For what?”

“You killed _eleven people_ , Kate!” Chris exclaimed.

Allison gasped and clamped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. It couldn’t be true… but, her parents wouldn’t be acting like this if it weren’t.

“No. I killed eleven monsters.”

“The Hale Pack had humans members” Chris said, voice flat. “The youngest person in that house was six months old.”

Allison muffled a sob into her hand. She pressed her back to the wall so that she couldn’t see her parents or her aunt. A tear slid down her cheek.

Downstairs Kate Argent said maliciously: “Live with a monster, die like one.”

Allison closed her eyes in horror. There was a moment of unsettling, stifling silence.

“Leave this house, Kate.” Victoria’s voice was solid, sure, implacable “You are no longer welcome here.”

“Chris?” Kate said.

Chris was silent for a time, then he said “Go. I’m ordering my men to stand down. You’ll find no help in this house.”

“You can’t do this!”

“It’s already done.” Victoria hissed “I’ll not have your poison near my daughter.”

“Fine. I’ll find the Alpha, I’ll kill it, and then I’ll finish the job I started seven years ago.”

“If you go after the Hales you’ll die, Kate” Chris said. “The second Peter catches wind of you he’s going to tear your throat out. With his teeth.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do. He told me that was what he’d do.”

“He’s a werewolf, Chris!”

“We hunt those that hunt us, Kate. Leave. Now.”

The front door opened and slammed closed, making Allison flinch. There were murmured voices a moment and then Allison heard footsteps coming up the stairs and she jerked, but she couldn’t make herself move.

Chris reached the landing and stopped. His eyes landed on his daughter, sitting in the hall, a hand over her mouth, tears streaming down her face. His face fell and his eyes went sad. “Oh, sweetheart.”

Allison sobbed “Daddy?”

Chris moved to sit next to her and wrapped her up in his arms. He rocked her back and forth and let her cry.

She clung to him until her tears lessened before whispering: “I don’t understand.”

Chris sighed “We were hoping to wait until you turned eighteen, but I think you deserve to know now. You need to know, if I tell you, everything will change. Your life will never be the same.”

Allison wiped her eyes on her sleeve and sat up to look her father in the eye. “Tell me everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't get as much into this chapter as I was hoping for. The Argent Family took it over.
> 
> But hey, you get nearly an entire chapter of Steter Fluffies next time, so bonus!
> 
> As always, AvengingPhoenix is an angel who puts up with my crazy and reassures me to no end. I love you!


	17. Seventeen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles comes to a conclusion. Jackson plays detective. Sleepy Steter feels with added Derek for comfort.

 

 

**_Seventeen:_ **

_“Am I falling in love? She thought, is it safe to do so with this man? She thought, I don’t need to answer.”_

_~ Freya North, Chances ~_

Stiles was lying flat on her back beneath the big tree in her backyard. It was Tuesday, and after a long weekend helping Isaac integrate into the little (and growing) family that had become hers since she was bitten, she hadn’t had much time to herself. So that day at lunch she had sat down next to Scott (sitting next to a very quiet Allison) and announced that today was a Tree Day.

Tree Days in the Stilinski/McCall friendship were sacred. Stiles had the big oak in her yard, Scott had one in his. If Tree Day was declared it meant leaving the other person alone until indicated otherwise. They had leave to be alone within the sphere of their own tree.

So here she was, late afternoon, lying starfished on the ground, contemplating her universe.

Everything had just changed so much.

A shadow fell over her and a beloved voice said: “Hey Jitterbug, how ya doin’?”

Stiles flailed a hand in her father’s general direction “Shhh, I’m in the cone of silence.”

Jeorek chuckled and shook his head “Got it. Dinner’s in thirty.”

“Mmhmm.”

Stiles thought that she was handling the whole werewolf deal pretty well. She hadn’t ever tried to eat anyone. She had this regime of exercises she did to help her control her new senses, and they had a side effect of helping with her ADHD. She had a pack, which gave her the warm fuzzies (she would never admit it). She could even admit that despite being grumpy and taciturn, Derek was an ok dude.

Isaac was a little fluffy puppy made of rainbows that had been sitting in a cardboard box in the rain. Stiles wouldn’t ever tell him, but she had every intention of feeding him until he couldn’t move.

She had Scott (who thought the werewolf thing was awesome, but was pretty happy being human, thanks), and she had her dad. Who was actually taking it fairly well. His only outward sign of stress over his worldview changing was the new habit he’d developed of bringing home old case files. He’d spent quite a bit of time grilling Derek and Peter to find out if any of them were supernatural in origin. Jeorek also spent a lot of time on the Hale Fire Case.

Stiles was ok with that. The more people her dad arrested meant fewer people that Peter felt inclined to murder in cold blood.

Peter. Stiles rolled over onto her stomach in order to hide her blotchy blush from the sky. She picked at the grass beneath her. He was her Alpha. One of the few people in her life (no, Scott and the Sheriff didn’t count) that would answer her questions, no matter how weird. He cared.

That was the clincher, though, wasn’t it? The fact that here was this man who cared.

“Stiles?”

Stiles rolled back over to look at Scott. She lifted herself up onto her elbows and raised her eyebrows at him.

“I know you’re in the cone of silence, but are you ok?”

Was she? She sat up and crossed her legs under herself. Peter flashed through her head again. He was handsome, she knew that. Despite the scars and the lingering crazy in his eyes. When the wolves had run on Saturday Stiles had noticed that Peter’s Alpha form was less monstrous than it had been before. More wolf-like. Still huge and very frightening, but less monster and more wolf.

He was healing.

He wasn’t safe by any means. there was something in him that Stiles knew would always be there. This shadow in him that meant that he would do absolutely _anything_ for the ones he cared about. That shadow made her cautious.

...but as Lydia had said at the mall the week before, was he worth it? Was he worth the risk of a broken heart, or jail (for him, not her)? Of her father’s wrath?

“Stiles?”

Stiles looked up at Scott and smiled “I’m ok. I just need some thinking time.”

“Okay. I just wanted to check before I went home.”

“Thanks, Scott.”

Scott waved, got on his bike, and rode away. Stiles flopped back onto her back and grinned stupidly. That part of her that she associated as her wolf was curled up, content and happy in her decision.

Stiles Stilinski was in love.

 

 

\- - -

Jackson Whittemore was not an idiot, okay? He might be King Douche most of the time, but he was not stupid. He knew there was something going on with Stilinski. McCall obviously knew what it was and was helping her keep the secret. He’d spent the better part of a week following them, trying to listen in on conversations, find clues.

Then Lahey had been sucked up into the vortex surrounding the two nerds.

He wanted to say that what he’d seen on Saturday was just a trick of the light. That it wasn’t possible… but there was one person in this world that Jackson didn’t lie to. That was himself. He knew what he saw. Knew it was real. He just _didn’t know what it wa_ s.

He’d watched as Stiles, Lahey and the two older guys Jackson didn’t know seperate from the others and head for the tree line. He’d followed them discreetly for a bit before he’d had to hide behind a tree.

There had been this great tearing sound and a terrifying howl had rent the air. Three other howls had followed. When Jackson had looked again he’d been shocked at what he saw.

Where once the guy with the burns had stood was a big black, furry monster with claws and teeth. It made him think of old werewolf movies. Arrayed around it were Stiles, Isaac and the black haired guy. They’d _changed_. two pairs of glowing golden eyes and one pair of blue had peered out of faces distorted and different. Sideburns framed faces filled with fangs.

Jackson didn’t know what they had turned into, but he knew they weren’t human.

Then the big black monster led the other three dashing into the underbrush.

Jackson tried to keep up for about thirty seconds and then gave up. As he trudged back to his car he just knew that if nothing else, the Beacon Hills Preserve would probably have fewer bunnies by morning.

Driving home, Jackson resolved to find out just what Stilinski was into.

 

 

\- - -

Stiles was curled up on her side in his bed. Peter stood in the doorway of the room the Sheriff had granted him, just watching her breathe. The Sheriff was on nights this week. Derek was also taking his turn running night patrol this week. Today was the first day in several that Peter had found himself with the ability to be alone with Stiles.

And he found her here. Curled up in his bed, dozing away.

The Alpha quickly toed off his shoes and threw his jacket over the back of the chair. He crawled onto the bed and slid in behind her. She snuffled and her whiskey eyes opened to gaze up at him. He let himself lock one arm around her possessively, and he slid the other under her neck. She shifted obligingly and her body fell into the cradle of his.

“Hey” She said softly, quiet in a way that only sleep could bring.

Peter tucked his nose behind her ear and breathed her in “What’s brought this on?”

Stiles smiled sheepishly “Would you believe that I miss my Alpha?”

A coil of happiness at that statement rumbled through him, resulting in a low, pleased growl.

“There’s been so much going on lately” Stiles offered.

Peter hummed “Is that my shirt?”

“Not anymore” Stiles replied smugly.

Peter laughed. Stiles held onto the arm around her middle and tucked her free hand under her chin as she shifted enough to scent him fairly well from her position. Peter returned the favor and they scent marked each other before settling into the mattress.

“Go to sleep” Stiles mumbled.

As they slid that direction, warm and dozy, Peter’s grip tightened.

Later, when Derek got in from his patrol, he would find them wrapped up together and fall face first into the mattress with an exhausted grunt. It would wake Stiles just enough to urge him up enough to wrap an arm around when he buried his face in her stomach.

The Sheriff would find all three of them sleeping when he got home in the morning. He would stand in the doorway nursing half a cup of coffee and realize that his little girl was growing up. That she’d found herself a niche in the world.

He’d watch for a few more minutes, taking in the way Peter held her and realize that he’d need to have a little chat with the Alpha pretty soon.

Then he’d wander off to bed and in the quiet of the morning, Stiles would be half an hour late for school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this one is unbeta'd. AvengingPhoenix folded before I did this night. I finished it and decided to post anyway. Enjoy.


	18. Eighteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny and Jackson and an Alpha in the woods, oh my.

 

 

**_Eighteen:_ **

_"A tangled forest and the feeling of hidden eyes watching."_

_~ James Christensen, Voyage of the Bassett 1996 ~_

Afternoon sunlight filtered through the trees, dappling the forest floor with spotted light. It was quiet now. It always was at this time of day. The trees were still partially bare, new spring leaves unfurling as summer rapidly approached.

It was still too cold for hikers. Even if it wasn't, this place was too deep into the forest to see many humans.

The air was still. Silent in a way that was disturbing and bleak. There was no birdsong, no sound of little animals moving in the underbrush. The only sounds were the bracing wind blowing through the trees, and the growling breaths of the beast asleep in the center of the little hollow.

The stench was sickening. Half eaten animal corpses and bones littered the clearing. Blood and gristle was matted in the beast's fur. It was big, bigger than a deer, but smaller than the related moose. Growling breaths huffed out from between glistening fangs.

In it's dreams it could vaguely remember being something other than what it was. Passing feelings now long since brushed away as passing fancies. Deep inside it could feel a connection to a prey that had gotten away. The beast had tasted human blood, _and it hungered_.

Off in the distance, filtering through the trees, voices drifted into the clearing. Sensitive ears perked, picking up the noises. There were two of them. Young and reckless. Looking for danger, yet still unaware of the peril they now found themselves in.

Glowing ruby eyes opened and a menacing growl tore from deep inside a big black chest. The creature's head came up and it scented the air. It stood and shook the sleep out of its massive frame.

It howled, long and loud and terrifying, and the burning eyes disappeared into the brush.

 

 

\- - -

“I can’t believe we’re doing this. I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”

Jackson snorted and glared at Danny, who glared back, unperturbed at his best friend’s usual meanness. He was immune by now.

“Seriously, Jackson” Danny said, climbing up and over a large boulder. “What the hell are we doing out here?”

“I told you -”

“Werewolves aren’t real, Jackson!” Danny exclaimed impatiently. He’d indulged his friend for days now (six whole days, count ‘em), and was really starting to be over this whole monster thing. “Stiles Stilinski is no more a werewolf than I am.”

Jackson stopped walking and eyeballed his friend in a sideways manner.

Danny threw his hands in the air “Oh, come on!”

Jackson grinned, all teeth. “I know what I saw, Danny.”

Danny rolled his eyes so hard you could almost hear it. He sighed and continued to follow Jackson along the side of the river. He thought it was a better idea for them to just go over to Stiles’ house and ask her (' _B_ _ecause she wasn’t a werewolf, Jackson_.'), instead of traipsing around the Preserve looking for monsters. But no, Jackson wanted to catch them in the act so that they couldn’t lie to them.

Danny was calling his Thursday wasted. It had been nearly a week since Jackson had called him on the phone screaming about how Stiles Stilinski and Isaac Lahey were monsters. ( _‘real monsters, dude, shut up!’_ )

Jackson heaved himself up the steep bank of the river (more like a small cliff in Danny’s opinion) and then stopped while Danny climbed up after him. Danny grumbled and leaned against a tree to drink from his water bottle.

“I hate you” he panted.

Jackson scoffed out a laugh and took a drink of his own. There was a grumbling sound and Jackson laughed outright “I told you to eat, dude.”

“That wasn’t me.”

Both boys straightened in alarm at that revelation. They looked around warily. Jackson spotted it first. He reached out, grabbing at Danny’s arm. Danny turned at the aborted grabs and froze in place next to his friend.

Not twenty feet away, crouched in underbrush that did nothing to hide it’s massive frame was a big, black wolf-like creature. It was breathing heavily, a low growl rumbling through its chest. Parts of its coat were matted and shiny. Its eyes glowed a bright, demonic red.

All the hair on Danny’s body stood on end. “Jackson is that?”

“No” Jackson said quietly, watching the werewolf’s ears twitch. “No, he didn’t look that that. He looked more like an actual wolf.”

“Then I’m going to assume that this one isn’t friendly.”

A loud growl rattled through the clearing as lips drew up in a furious snarl. A long rope of drool fell to the ground. The thing crouched, settling on its haunches.

“RUN!” Jackson screamed just as the werewolf launched itself across the space separating it from the two boys.

Danny screamed in pain as the monster impacted him. His shoulders hit the ground with jarring force and there was searing pain across his torso. It took a few heart stoppingly long moments to realize that the monster wasn’t about to eat him. He rolled over and heaved himself to his feet, clutching at his chest. Blood ran over his hands and he looked around wildly.

Jackson was screaming. Catching sight of his best friend Danny couldn’t help the strangled scream that left his own mouth. Jackson had been pinned down, blood pouring from a cut to his head. The monster had its jaws locked around Jackson’s torso, and Jackson was screaming and trying to pry them off.

Danny fumbled for something, anything. He came up with a large tree branch. Moving forward he aimed and swung at the wolf’s back. The branch shattered on impact, but it was enough to get the wolf to let go of Jackson. Jackson dropped to the ground as the creature turned, roaring and smacked Danny with one huge, clawed hand.

Danny flew through the air. He went sailing over the edge of the drop. He hit the slope and went crashing head over heels down the steep incline until he hit the water with a splash that sent waves of water up onto the bank. He surfaced once, gasping as his vision blacked out.

The last thing he saw before he passed out was Jackson at the top of the ridge, scrambling to get away from the big black monster. It threw back its head and howled and Danny’s vision faded out and went dark.

 

 

\- - -

The doors to the ambulance bay opened and Melissa looked up. The paramedics looked wild and Melissa swallowed heavily before rushing forward. She looked down at the boy on the gurney and her eyes widened and she gasped.

“Danny?”

Danny jerked, wild eyes flickering to the RN leaning over him. He reached for her and she took his hand. Blood was running sluggishly down his face. He was covered in abrasions and dirt, and he was soaking wet.

“Where was he?” Melissa demanded of the EMTs.

“Jogger found him near Mills Pond floating in the river. He’s in shock, hypothermic. Lacerations to arms, head and torso. Possible concussion. Left arm is broken.”

Melissa nodded and turned back to the wild eyed boy on the gurney as they wheeled him down the hall. He was gasping, trying to speak. Melissa let the other nurse guide them down the hall as she leaned over Danny.

“Danny, Danny it’s ok. You’re going to be ok. We’re going to take care of you. Do you know what happened?”

Danny’s eyes rolled and he nodded. “W-wolf. Giant wolf.”

His teeth were chattering together. Melissa stared at the boy and then a grim look crossed her face. With every ounce of seriousness she possessed she asked: “Were you bitten?”

Danny shook his head “Jackson.”

“Jackson was with you?”

Danny nodded as he was transferred to a bed in one of the trauma rooms. “Is he still out there Danny? Did he get away?”

“N-no. Fell in. Water.”

“You fell in the river?”

Another nod.

“Was Jackson bitten?”

Again, a nod.

“Okay, okay. We’re going to find him. He’s going to be ok” Melissa assured him and he relaxed a little. “I’ll talk to the Sheriff myself, ok? You let them help you.”

One final nod from Danny and Melissa was sweeping from the room. She walked quickly down the hall to the nurse’s station and picked up the phone, dialing a familiar number.

_“Beacon Hills Sheriff’s Department.”_

“Hi, Janine, it’s Melissa McCall, is the Sheriff available?”

_“Hi Melissa! He’s in an interview, if it’s about the kids -”_

“No” Melissa said. “I need you to get him. A boy was just brought in from the Preserve hurt badly. It looks like an animal attack and he says there’s another boy out there.”

_“Got it, hang on.”_

Melissa tapped her fingers on the counter worriedly for a the couple of minutes it took for Jeorek to answer the phone.

_“Melissa?”_

“Jeorek, there’s been an animal attack out on the preserve. Two boys were out there. Danny Mahealani was just brought in. He says Jackson Whittemore is still out there somewhere.”

_“Melissa, was Danny bitten?”_

“No. He’s got some really bad lacerations and a broken arm, but no bites. He says that Jackson was though.”

_“Alright, I’ll put out an APB for Jackson and start the search. I’ll call Peter and get the pack out into the preserve to. Where was Danny found.”_

“In the river up by Mills Pond” Melissa said, there was a pause and she listened to the Sheriff start issuing orders to his deputies. “Jeo?”

_“Yeah?”_

“Be careful okay?”

_“I will.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of Steter. This chapter is pure plot. Will return with more Steter in the next one.


	19. Nineteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finding Jackson.

**_Nineteen:_ **

_“Wherever there is order, chaos comes along because it is more organized.”_

_~ Terry Pratchett ~_

The light was already starting to fade by the time the wolves gathered at the spot where Danny had been found. Peter and Derek had been doing a general inspection of the family home (to decide what to do with it), and were, therefore, closest. Stiles had swung by and picked up Isaac before making their way out to the Preserve.

Scott, having been with Stiles when the Sheriff called, had volunteered to head to the hospital for the first shift of the vigil over Danny. They couldn’t be too careful. He could have been bitten without knowing it, and (though rare) scratches, when deep enough, had been known to turn the subject. There was also the possibility of the Alpha tracking Danny down to finish the job. Scott wouldn’t be much help there, but he had a cell phone and could call those that _could_ do something.

When they got to the river bank, Isaac peeled off to peer at the patch of stirred up earth to try and catch a good scent. He was the newest at tracking, and needed the practice. Stiles slid into the place between Uncle and Nephew. If Derek noticed the way Stiles and Peter brushed their hands together in a subtle scent marking, he said nothing.

“Papa said Danny drifted down the river after a fall” Stiles said as all four wolves examined the area around them warily. “They were by the water when they were attacked.”

“And there’s still no sign of Jackson?” Derek asked.

“None. Willis and Markham went to Jackson’s house. His Mom hasn’t seen him since before school this morning” Stiles said. “Papa’s starting the search grid down at the pond and branching up the river from there.”

“Alright” Peter said, and all three Betas turned to their Alpha. “We follow the river to the attack site. Hopefully there will be a clear trail, if not we’ll branch out in teams of two. The goal is to find Jackson. If you see the Alpha, do not engage it. If you get into trouble, Howl.”

The Betas nodded in acknowledgement of these orders. Peter led them into the woods at high speed.

The Hale Pack was now performing its first act of protection for Beacon Hills in seven years.

\- - -

“I want to know what’s being done to find my son!”

Jeorek rubbed his eyes before turning away from the map on the hood of Deputy Markham’s cruiser to face Mr. Whittemore. The Lawyer had not taken kindly to being told to go home and let them do their jobs. He had followed Markham and Willis out here, and was now being an extreme inconvenience. Jeorek had been trying to ignore the man.

“Mr. Whittemore -”

Whittemore cut off whatever Tara Willis was going to say by pushing past her and storming toward the Sheriff. Jeorek leveled him with his very best ‘ _don’t you dare_ ’ look. The one he used on Stiles.

“We’re doing everything we can, Mr. Whittemore” Jeorek said evenly. “Your continued interruptions will only draw this out.”

Whittemore’s mouth drew into a furious line and he opened his mouth to talk just as two SUVs pulled up. Chris Argent got out of the driver’s seat of the first one. Jeorek grit his teeth. It wasn’t anything personal, not really, but Jeorek had a thing against people who wanted to kill his daughter. You know, on principle.

Peter had recommended calling the Hunters in. It had surprised Jeorek, but he could understand. If the Pack cooperated with the Hunters and the rogue was killed quickly, the Pack would be left alone.

“Good, you’re here” Jeorek swept past the angry lawyer and reluctantly shook hands with Argent.

“Sheriff” Chris nodded. “What’s going on?”

“I need your men to help guide mine. We’ve had an animal attack, and a boy is still missing.”

The hunters arrayed behind Chris straightened up. At a nod from him they moved to gear up. Chris walked with the Sheriff to the map and Jeorek laid it out for him. “We’ve set up a grid, teams of three, two of my guys, one of yours. The boy in the hospital was found here” he pointed. “He was found in the water, and from what he was able to tell us the attack happened somewhere upriver.”

“Do you have a time estimate?”

“Danny say’s they left right after school and hiked for about an hour” Jeorek said, moving his finger up the waterline. “He was found at four-thirty here. Between being in the water and the blood loss, estimate says he was in the water for approximately half an hour.”

Chris contemplated the map for a minute “That gives us about three or four miles to work with.”

Jeorek nodded “The Hales are already headed up there.”

Chris’ gaze lasered in on Jeorek’s, his eyes narrowing. Jeorek narrowed his back, his expression stating very clearly that he trusted Chris about as far as he could throw him (hey, Stiles had to get it from somewhere).

“It’s Pack territory” Jeorek hissed.

“It’s a rogue, which makes it our problem” Chris hissed back.

“We’ll agree to disagree.” Jeorek stated as Markham handed him a rifle, “As far as I see it, so long as the Alpha is taken care of, I don’t care who does it.”

Chris nodded and said nothing. Jeorek circled a hand over his head “Alright, let’s go!”

\- - -

Jackson groaned in pain as the world came into focus around him. Sharp stabbing pain ripped through his body, focusing on his torso. He tried to curl up and a choked scream bubbled up out of his chest and he aborted the movement.

His eyes blinked open.

He lay there for a moment, staring up into the trees, watching the leaves rustle in the breeze as he coughed up a bunch of bloody phlegm and then lay there panting as he tried to remember how to breathe. Wheezing, gasping breaths that made his chest erupt in fire every time he inhaled.

After a few minutes he shifted a bit, trying to sit up against whatever it was he was leaning on (a fallen tree, to be specific). Gasping Jackson lifted a hand to his chest. Every touch felt like fire and he looked down at himself.

He screamed. And he screamed, and he screamed.

A crashing sound somewhere to his left made him pause. He tried to get upright, but couldn’t get more than a couple of inches off the ground before collapsing again with a pained whine.

“Jackson?! Jackson!”

A face swam into his vision. A girl with impish features and pale skin dotted with moles. Glowing amber eyes gazed at him worriedly. Stiles. Jackson groaned.

“No. No, don’t move” Stiles said, setting her hands on Jackson’s shoulders. The pain began to fade to a more bearable hue and Jackson’s world came into sharp focus. Stiles was kneeling over him, her hands resting on his shoulders, the veins in her arms stark black and a grimace on her face.

The brown haired man that had changed into the giant wolf was kneeling next to her, eyes glowing bright ruby as he looked over Jackson’s injuries. Isaac and the black haired guy were both transformed, watching the trees warily like they expected an attack.

“Stls” Jackson muttered around the blood in his mouth.

“Shhh” Stiles hushed him as the red eyed man maneuvered himself in behind Jackson, heaving him upright and helping his breathing ease. The pain eased a little more. “It’s okay Jackson. Shhh.”

She looked across Jackson and met the man’s eyes. The man looked down and met Jackson’s eyes. “Jackson, do you know who I am?”

Jackson tried to shake his head, but that caused spikes of pain to shoot through him and he groaned.

“My name is Peter Hale, and I am the Alpha of the Hale Werewolf Pack.”

Jackson’s eyes snapped open from where they had closed. They met Peter’s gaze “I k-knew it!”

Peter smiled grimly. Briefly. “Listen to me, Jackson” he said. “The wolf that attacked you was an Alpha. Alpha’s have the ability to turn humans through a bite. Did the Alpha bite you?”

Jackson nodded “Does that mean I’ll change?”

“No. I’m afraid not” Peter shook his head. “Your other injuries are too severe, they’ll kill you before the Bite has a chance to help you.”

“So I’m dead?”

“No!” Stiles exclaimed, drawing Jackson’s attention away from the Alpha holding him in his arms “No, you’re not going to die, sweetie.”

“I don’t -” Jackson breathed in wetly and the pain increased. Stiles had paled quite a bit and suddenly the big black haired dude was kneeling behind her, glowing blue eyes fierce. He wrapped an arm around Stiles and she slumped against him, though she didn’t let go of Jackson.

“Derek.”

The man followed Peter’s order and reached over Stiles, setting his hand over one of hers. She took the hint and dropped her hand. The moment Derek’s skin met Jackson’s, black veins erupted up his arm and the pain lessened again.

“Jackson” Peter said, catching the teenager’s attention again. Blue eyes met red. “Your injuries will kill you, but there is a chance.”

“What?”

“I bite you. Several times. If you’re willing and you accept me as your Alpha right now, it will accelerate the change and hopefully the advanced healing of werewolves will kick in before you lose too much blood.”

Jackson stiffened up in Peter’s arms. He groaned at the pain, but remained tense. His eyes flashed to Stiles, the only person here besides Lahey that he knew. Isaac was too far away to be part of the conversation, standing sentry over the huddled wolves and dying human.

“Stiles?”

Stiles leaned over him again, grasping Jackson’s bloody face in her hands. She waited a moment until she knew she had his undivided attention. “It’s okay, Jackson. Being a werewolf is actually pretty cool. It comes with all these awesome benefits, the best one being that you get this brand new family. People that want you and love you no matter what.”

Jackson searched Stiles’ eyes. Whatever he was looking for he must have found because he turned back to Peter and nodded, acceptance in his eyes.

Peter nodded to Derek, who used both hands to hold Jackson down. Peter’s fangs descended.

He bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *throws wounded Jackson at you* Here! Catch!  
> *throws pack working together at you* Here! Catch!  
> *throws Danny up in the air* Here! Try to figure this one out!
> 
> *disapears into the bushes*


	20. Twenty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackson aftermath, part 1.

 

**_Twenty:_ **

_“An event has happened, upon which it is difficult to speak, and impossible to be silent.”_

_~ Edmund Burke ~_

The back door of the Stilinski house slammed open with a massive crash that rattled the windows and caused two or three framed photos to fall off the walls. Isaac barrelled through the house and up the stairs. Stiles followed quickly, a worried expression on her face as she guided Derek and Peter into the house. They were carrying Jackson between them carefully trying to keep his torso in a horizontal position. Her hands were flapping worriedly as they rounded the corner from the kitchen into the front room and started up the stairs.

Upstairs Isaac crashed into Stiles’ doorframe with the well stocked first aid kit. He bounced off it and continued into the room. He stripped the sheets off the bed just as Stiles guided the two Hales into the room. Carefully they set Jackson down. Stiles sat down next to the dying boy and gestured to Isaac.

The first aid kit was swiftly opened and Stiles and Peter set to work patching Jackson together as best they could. Derek grabbed Isaac by the scruff and pulled him into the hallway.

“You’re covered in blood” Isaac muttered, staring at the older wolf’s chest.

Derek snorted “Yes. I am. Isaac, look at me.”

Isaac’s eyes snapped up to meet Derek’s faintly glowing ones. Isaac whimpered. Derek clasped the back of the curly haired boy’s neck in reassurance.

“Listen, I need you to find the Sheriff and let him know we found Jackson. He’s probably going to have an Argent with him, so be careful.”

Isaac nodded rapidly. “I can do that.”

“Okay, when you’re done you come back here. Jackson’s going to need the Pack. I’m going to the hospital to check on Danny and Scott.” Derek said quietly, eyes flashing to the open bedroom door “There’s still a possibility that Danny could turn. Scott isn’t strong enough to deal with that.”

“Ok. Go talk to the Sheriff and then come home.”

“Yes. Go. Now.”

Isaac nodded again, then darted into the bedroom to touch his Alpha’s shoulder and press a kiss to Stiles’ cheek. Then he was out the door. Derek took a deep breath and then went into his room, stripping off his shirt and looking for a clean one. After changing he too went into the bedroom.

Peter sat in the bed, back to the headboard, Jackson cradled in his arms, veins black. Stiles was curled up against Peter and Jackson’s sides, head tucked in next to Jackson’s low on Peter’s chest, running her fingers through Jackson’s hair. Every time the boy shifted or whimpered, Stiles would coo into his ear and he would settle.

Peter met Derek’s gaze, eyes still Alpha red. “Send Scott here when you get to the hospital. He’ll need as much pack around as possible” he said softly.

Derek nodded “I’ll call if anything with Danny changes.”

“If he asks, tell him the truth.”

Derek nodded again, then moved forward to brush his own hand to Peter’s. Peter took a moment to clasp his nephew’s hand in reassurance. Derek leaned down and scent marked Jackson’s cheek and then pressed a kiss to Stiles’ forehead when she turned to look at him.

“Be careful” Stiles whispered.

Derek smiled at her “I will.”

He turned back when he reached the doorway and turned back, meeting Peter’s eyes again.

“You’re a good Alpha, Uncle Peter” he said, and then he was gone.

 

\- - -

Isaac crashed through the underbrush with no inclination toward stealth. He knew the Sheriff’s scent. He’d spent enough time the last couple of weeks in the Stilinski house to know it. It helped too that the man was Pack. Isaac knew the scent of every member of the pack.

When he crashed through a rather prickly bush and into the beam of a high powered flashlight Isaac fumbled to a stop, blinded. He heard the distinct sound of a rifle being cocked and froze, eyes wide and breathing heavily.

“Wait!”

The light lowered and Isaac looked over his arm to see a man he didn’t know, the Sheriff, and a man Isaac had never met, but had been taught to identify as Chris Argent. Chris was pointing the rifle at him.

“Isaac?” Jeorek asked, stepping forward and pushing on the barrell of the gun until Argent lowered it. “What is it?”

“We found Jackson.”

“Is he ok?”

Isaac shook his head rapidly “No. The rogue mauled him pretty badly. He was bitten too.”

“Is he going to live?” Chris demanded.

“We don’t know yet. The injuries were so bad…”

Jeorek placed a hand on Isaac’s shoulder and some of the static tension drained out of him. “It’s ok, son” he said, patting his arm. “Talk to me.”

Isaac met the Sheriff’s gaze and took a deep breath “He was bleeding out. His wounds were bad enough the bite wouldn’t have taken in time to save him.”

“Peter bit him again, didn’t he?” Chris demanded.

Isaac snarled and flashed beta gold eyes at the hunter. Jeorek stepped between hunter and wolf, blocking their views of each other. Isaac turned back to the Sheriff “Jackson was awake. Peter asked him what he wanted.”

“He chose the bite?” Jeorek asked softly.

Isaac nodded “The bite from Peter helps speed it up, but we still don’t know if the healing will take in time to save him.”

“Alright” Jeorek nodded. “Did you find the rogue?”

“No” Isaac said, then turned deliberately to Chris. “But I can tell you where we were. The Alpha’s scent was all over the place. I think that area’s one of its favorite haunts.”

Chris nodded and the other man pulled out a map, he handed it and a pen to Isaac. After he marked the place by the river and where they had found Jackson he looked back to the Sheriff. “Derek’s headed to the hospital to take over the watch on Danny. Peter wants as many of us home tonight as can manage it.”

“I’ll be a while yet. I’ve got to wrap up this mess and deal with Jackson’s parents” Jeorek explained. He turned to Chris, “If I let you go after this thing, you’ll let me know so that I can wrap up this case as an animal attack and be done with it?”

“Yes” Chris nodded.

“Okay. I want to know the second you know if you’re going to bag that thing tonight. Isaac, get back home. Don’t forget that you and I still need to talk about things.”

Isaac nodded again. Stiles and Scott had not been secretive about their knowledge of what his Dad was doing to him. The Sheriff was (alongside everything else) building a case of child abuse against him. Isaac had been stationed in the Stilinski house on Sunday and was sharing a room with Derek.

“I know.”

“Good. Let Peter know I’ll be in as soon as I can.”

The werewolf darted off into the darkness again, leaving two hunters and a Sheriff in his wake. Chris had his cell phone out and was making a call. Jeorek sighed and grabbed his radio to call his men in. He had to go lie to a lawyer.

 

\- - -

Scott heaved a heavy sigh as he entered the house. Derek had relieved him at the hospital forty minutes ago, and Scott had taken the time to grab a bite to eat with his Mom before following Alpha’s orders and heading to his other home. He set his bag on the floor next to Stiles’ and trudged up the stairs, toeing off his shoes as he went. One fell down the stairs and landed with a forlorn thump.

He wrestled with his hoodie for a minute in the dark of the hallway, nearly strangling himself. When he got to Stiles’ room he was hopping on one foot and then the other to get his socks off.

Glowing red eyes met his in the dark.

“Mom’s on shift until three” Scott whispered as he climbed over Isaac who was draped over Jackson’s side. He felt Peter’s hand in his hair and was suddenly grateful for the lessons in werewolf culture he and Isaac were sitting through. Derek was the worst teacher in the history of ever, and Scott thought it was unfair that Stiles didn’t have to suffer too, but all in all, he was learning a lot. (Stiles had already asked Peter most of the questions in those first few days.)

Scott wedged himself into the gap between Isaac’s legs and Jackson. He reached up and threaded his fingers through Stiles’ on Jackson’s (thankfully) steadily (if shallowly) rising and falling chest. A glance upward had him meeting Stiles’ gaze. The two exchanged a tiny smile and then her eyes closed again.

“Sleep” Peter rumbled.

And he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know. Lots of pack feels. Peter is a good Alpha, even Derek says so.
> 
> Still don't know about Danny yet.
> 
> Huge, huge, HUGE thank you to AvengingPhoenix, who not only beta'd this chapter, but sat through my watching the new episode even though she can't watch it until later this week.


	21. Twenty-One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris and Allison talk. The day after the attack. Danny comes to a boiling point.

**_Twenty-One:_ **

_“You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live. Now.”_

_~Joan Baez, folksinger ~_

It was early in the morning when Chris Argent got home. Early enough that it was still dark out. He came in through the door, a weary set to his shoulders and moved into the kitchen. Soft yellow light spilled out into the hallway from where Victoria had left the light above the stove on.

“Dad?”

Chris turned to smile at his daughter as he retrieved the plate his wife had left warming in the oven. Allison edged into the room, sleep rumpled and concerned. “Hey sweetheart.”

“Is everything okay?” Allison asked as Chris retrieved silverware and sat heavily down at the table in the breakfast nook. She moved about, pulling out mugs and setting the kettle to heat.

“I hope so.”

“What happened?”

Chris sighed, still not used to the idea of his child knowing about werewolves and hunters. She had been angry, furious, when he had explained everything to her. Her heart had been broken at the knowledge that her Aunt was a murderer, and her sadness and rage had let itself be known in the cold way she had been treating her parents this last week.

She understood of course. Chris and Victoria had had a very solid argument over their choice to wait to tell her until she was eighteen. Their want for her to have any sort of normal childhood. Their need to protect her.

It didn’t make the pill any less bitter to swallow, though.

“The rogue Alpha attacked two boys from your school this afternoon” Chris said, fork scraping his plate as he began to eat.

Allison busied herself with her self-appointed task of making cocoa so that she wouldn’t have to look at him. “Who was it?”

“Danny and Jackson?” Chris said “I think  you’ve mentioned them a few times.”

Allison nodded, mostly to herself because Chris was studying his plate fairly closely. “Are they going to be ok?”

“Danny will be, hopefully. He got away with some fairly severe injuries, but he’s in the hospital and the doctors say he’ll make it.”

“What about Jackson?”

Chris watched Allison stir the powder into the mugs “The Alpha bit him.”

Allison froze, looking up wide eyed “Is he going to change?”

“If he lives, yes.”

“What do you mean _‘if he lives’_?”

“When the wolves found him he was so gravely injured that Alpha Hale had to bite him again to try to get ahead of the injuries” Chris said bluntly. “There’s the very real possibility that his wounds were too severe for the bite to heal in time. Plus the added factor that the bite itself could kill him.”

Allison walked over and set a mug down for her father before curling up in the chair next to him, tucking her knees up to her chest. They sat in silence for a few minutes while Chris finished eating.

“Will you have to kill Alpha Hale for biting Jackson?”

“In this case? No. He did it as a last resort to try to save a life. Even if Jackson dies we don’t have a reason to go after the Hale Pack. None of them have ever harmed a human.”

“And if he lives?”

“He becomes part of the pack and you take caution to never be alone with him.”

“What do I tell Lydia? He’s going to be different.”

“Nothing. You tell her absolutely nothing” Chris stated. “Even if you thought she could keep the secret, it isn’t yours to tell.”

Allison nodded “Did you find the Alpha?”

Chris shook his head “No.”

\- - -

Stiles woke up to a snuffling against her neck. Her eyes blinked open and she smiled amusedly down at the tuft of spiky blonde hair tucked under her chin. She scratched her fingers through the hair at the back of Jackson’s skull and watched as he shivered once and went still. A chuckle, more felt than heard, made her turn her head up to look at Peter. He was looking down at her with soft, tired blue eyes.

He had stayed up all night.

Stiles smiled softly and looked around. Jackson had rolled over in the night and curled up as small as he could between Stiles and Peter. Scott was sprawled over the end of the bed, using Stiles’ foot as pillow as he drooled off the side of the mattress. Derek was curled up against Peter’s other side, back facing them as he slept. Stiles wanted to giggle at the sight of the tiny points to Derek’s ears, and she just knew that if she could see his face, his sideburns would be barely showing and little fangs would be poking out of his mouth.

Apparently when Derek was asleep he transformed a little bit. It was adorable.

Slowly, carefully, Stiles shuffled out from under Jackson. He whimpered and she shushed him and turned him so that the sleeping octopus could latch onto Peter. She slid up the bed and into Peter’s space.

“When?”

Peter’s eyes crinkled a little at the corners “Two hours. It’ll take time to heal, but he should be ok.”

Stiles smiled beatifically at her Alpha. She scritched her hand through Jackson’s hair again, then asked “Isaac at the hospital?”

Peter nodded “They traded about an hour ago.”

Stiles couldn’t resist rubbing her hand through Derek’s hair either. He snuffled a bit and turned onto his stomach with a grunt, throwing one arm over Jackson. “I’m going to take Isaac breakfast and check on Danny.”

“Be careful today” Peter replied.

Stiles smiled at him again and pressed a soft, chaste kiss to his lips in response. She was content here in the warmth of her room, surrounded by members of her pack. She could feel the bond growing with Jackson already. “Promise” she whispered to the surprised Alpha. “Get some sleep, we’re okay.”

Peter huffed and raised a hand to her cheek and pulled her in for another kiss, just as soft as the first one. Then Stiles slipped out of bed. Peter watched her rummage around for a change of clothes and slip out the door. As he finally let himself fall asleep, he couldn’t stop the small smile from crossing his face. Progress.

Stiles dressed in the bathroom, scrubbed her teeth and then stumbled her way down the stairs. She paused at the bottom for a second to stare at the pair on the couch. Her father was sitting on one corner of the couch, still in his uniform, booted feet up on the coffee table. His head was tipped back and he was snoring softly. One arm ran along the back of the couch, cradling Mrs. McCall as she slept with her head on his shoulder. She was still in her scrubs, though her hair was down in a riot of curls.

Stiles grinned to herself as she tiptoed past them. She was so going to have to tell Scott about this later. They’d been trying to get their parents together for years now. Stiles now had evidence that it could work as she took a picture of them with her phone.

She would pick up breakfast for her and Isaac at Mae’s on the way to the hospital.

\- - -

“How’s he doing?”

Isaac looked up as Stiles entered the small hospital room. “He’s got an infection” he said. “It’s pretty bad.”

Stiles inhaled deeply as she neared the bed and a disgusted look crossed her face. Oh, that was putrid. She handed the bag of food to Isaac, who immediately began to rummage through it. Stepping up to the bed, Stiles pulled down the blanket and peeled up one corner of the large bandage that covered the claw marks on Danny’s torso.

“Oh, gross.”

“Yeah” Isaac agreed around a mouthful of waffle.

“When did this start?” Stiles asked, gesturing at the putrid black pus oozing slowly from the gashes. Carefully she covered them back up and smoothed the blanket back into place.

“I didn’t notice the smell until about twenty minutes ago, maybe. Do you think it has to do with the fact that it was a werewolf?”

Stiles set her hand to Danny’s arm and siphoned off some of the pain before she took the carton of food Isaac offered her. She settled down on a chair on the other side of Danny’s bed. “Maybe” she said. “Peter told me that scratches could turn you if they were deep enough.”

“These’re pretty deep” Isaac offered.

Stiles nodded, chewing on her bacon. “We’ll keep an eye on it. If it gets worse in the next couple of hours we’ll call Peter.”

Isaac nodded and settled into his chair. The pair ate in silence until Isaac was scraping the syrup off the styrofoam with one finger. About the time that Stiles was throwing out their trash, Danny groaned.

Stiles was across the room in a flash, grasping Danny’s hand, taking some of the pain. Isaac latched onto Danny’s other arm, able to take more of his pain than Stiles could (she’d taken too much from Jackson the day before).

“Danny? Can you hear me?”

“Stiles?” Danny muttered, confused. “Wha… where?”

“You’re in the hospital” Stiles said as Danny opened his eyes and looked around.

“The werewolf!” Danny exclaimed, and tried to sit up.

Isaac stood and carefully pinned Danny down. “Careful, man. You’re pretty torn up.”

“Jackson?” Danny demanded, looking between the two leaning over him.

“He’s going to be ok. We found him in time.”

“In time for what?”

“Not gonna lie” Stiles said. “He was pretty thrashed. The Alpha bit him and dragged him through the woods.”

“Is he going to die?”

“No. No he’s not.” Stiles explained “Our Alpha bit him again with his permission to speed up the transformation. It’ll take a few days to heal fully, but Jackson’s going to be OK.”

Danny nodded slowly “Am I okay?”

Stiles and Isaac exchanged a look over Danny. Isaac winced and said “We don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“You have an infection. You were clawed up pretty bad.”

“So give me some antibiotics, I’ll be fine.”

Stiles took a deep breath “It’s not that kind of infection, Danny. I think we need to have a talk, because if it gets any worse you’re going to have a choice to make.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but Danny's fate is sealed though. I know, I know I didn't actually say what that fate is yet.  
> Have some soft, early morning Steter kisses to tide you over. ^_^  
> *hides under the bed*
> 
> Always a huge thank you to the bestest AvengingPhoenix for her enthusiasm and willingness to read and hold my hand.


	22. Twenty-Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny. The Sheriff and Peter talk like men do. Steter fluff.

 

**_Twenty-Two:_ **

_“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer; it sings because it has a song.”_

_~ Maya Angelou ~_

That afternoon Peter bit Danny. The infection got worse rapidly, and by the time they were sneaking Jackson into the hospital room he had supposedly been in all night (Melissa was the right person to have on your side), it was time for Danny to decide. He’d held back until Peter had slipped into the hospital room and introduced himself.

What had followed was an intense question and answer session that reminded Peter a bit of the ones he and Stiles had had when she was first turned. It had been barely a month since that night in the woods, but it felt like years in some respects.

At the end of it all, Peter laid out the facts. There hadn’t been enough Alpha inflicted damage done to Danny’s torso to change him, but there was enough damage done to most likely kill him. They could wait and see what happened or Peter could bite him, here and now. While Danny was still strong enough to take the bite well.

Stiles had gone downstairs with Peter to his physical therapy session and Isaac had left to get some food, giving Danny time to think. He decided he would rather take his chances with the bite now when Peter was sure he would survive it, than wait until it was too late.

It was painful. Excruciating to be exact; but Peter stayed. Peter stayed with Danny through the change, just like he had done for Stiles and for Jackson. (He endured a very awkward visit with Danny’s mother and two younger sisters that shall not be spoken of.)

Stiles spent the day bouncing between the two hospital rooms. Scott brought everyone food in the evening and he and Stiles spent a few minutes looking at her phone and conspiring against their parents.

Derek stationed himself outside of Jackson’s room. Jackson’s parents spent the afternoon in there, and you couldn’t have tempted him in there with the world’s best steak and a million dollars.

Isaac and Scott went to school, despite their protests. Jeorek had taken one look at the mutinous expression on Stiles’ face and decided to pick his battles. He ushered the boys off to school by threatening them with driving them there in Deputy Willis’ cruiser instead of his Sheriff's SUV; and he’d make them sit in the back seat. Both teenagers beat a hasty retreat.

They spent the day badgering Stiles and Derek for updates and avoiding Lydia like the plague. Allison had been so withdrawn this week that it was like she was a ghost. She had even stopped trying to flirt with Scott. Scott spent a few minutes wondering if Chris Argent had told his daughter about werewolves, which lead to him wondering if the hunter knew he was part of the pack. That lead down bad roads, so Scott shook it from his head.

By the time Coach Finstock had let them go from Lacrosse practice (the man was incensed that he was down both his star player and his goalie) they both agreed that the full moon on Sunday would actually be a relief, even if it was going to be the first full moon for three of them.

They managed to escape the school and avoid Lydia by going out the back of the school and skirting around to the parking lot through the edge of the trees. By the time they reached their bikes Scott was covered in mud from head to foot and Isaac had leaves in his hair from dodging the ball of mud Scott slung at him in retaliation for laughing.

Isaac took up vigil at Jackson door for the night, and Derek was led to the McCall’s house by Melissa. Who fed both young men and then shooed them upstairs. Derek fell onto the bed and slept like a rock.

If Scott took blackmail photos there was no one around to catch him.

If Melissa took blackmail photos of her own of the two of them sleeping awkwardly in Scott’s bed… well, there was no one around to catch her either.

 

\- - -

“Peter?”

Peter paused, changed direction and headed into the kitchen where Jeorek was sitting surrounded by files and paperwork. The Sheriff had chosen to bring it home instead of staying at the Station.

“Yes, Sheriff?”

“Sit down” Jeorek said, gesturing at the chair across from him. Peter sat curiously. “What’s the plan?”

“The plan?”

“Yes. For the Alpha, for the future?”

“Right now we need to concentrate on tracking down and killing the Alpha” Peter said. “From what we’ve been able to ascertain, this thing isn’t just going to get bored and wander off. For one, we’ve invaded what it considers to be its territory, for the other I’ve gone and stolen three betas out from under its nose.”

“So what you’re saying is we’ve gone and pissed it off?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Will Argent and his men be of any use?”

“Personally I hope they take care of it for us. The Argent’s are a very old family, they’ve been doing this for centuries.” Peter sighed “If the hunters are the ones to deal with the rogue they’ll be more inclined to leave us be.”

Jeorek nodded in thought. The two men shared a moment of contemplative silence.

“As for the future? Derek and I have spoken about rebuilding the house.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?” Jeorek asked, concerned.

“I think so. the Hale land was always meant to be the home of a pack. To see it grow and change.” Peter gazed off into the middle distance, expression sad. “I’d like to think it’s what my sister would have wanted, Sheriff.”

“Jeorek.”

“Excuse me?”

“Call me Jeorek. I think you’ve earned the right to call me by my name.”

“I, well, thank you, Jeorek.”

“You might not be thanking me in a minute.” Peter’s eyebrows rose in surprise and Jeorek settled him with a piercing green stare that usually made grown men cry. “I want you to tell me what your intentions are toward my daughter.”

Peter choked a little on his own spit and stared at Jeorek “E-excuse me?”

“You heard me” Jeorek said, crossing his arms over his chest. “My daughter and I don’t keep secrets, Peter. I know her, and I know what she’s like when she’s falling for someone. I also like to think I’ve gotten a good enough read on you to know those feelings aren’t one sided.”

Peter stared at the man for a bit then sighed. He was a straightforward man, and he’d been asked a straightforward question. “She’s everything.”

“Explain.”

“She’s the main reason why I’m not the Alpha everyone is hunting right now” Peter said baldly. “The fire burned something up inside of me. I was broken and bent on revenge. When I bit your daughter I was working on pure instinct, and if she hadn't done what she had done I would have left her there alone.”

“What did she do?” Jeorek asked softly, leaning forward.

“She held onto me” Peter said. “I was this giant raging monster that had just sank its fangs into her, and she grabbed on and wouldn’t let go.”

“She snapped you out of it.”

“Yes.”

Jeorek sat and stared at Peter for a while. Peter met his gaze, hoping. He may be the Alpha now, but that didn’t mean that a girl’s father couldn’t be intimidating.

“My daughter is sixteen, Peter.”

“I know that, sir.”

“You’re what, twenty-eight?”

“This fall, yes sir.”

“Stiles turns seventeen in April” Jeorek stated. “I want you to listen to me very carefully. I like you, you’ve done nothing but right by my daughter and your pack since we met. You’re a good Alpha and from what I can tell a good man. My daughter deserves a good man, Peter.”

“Yes, she does.”

“I expect you to be that man. I’ll give my approval on three conditions.”

“Name them.”

“One: Nothing, and I mean nothing, happens until she’s eighteen. Period. Two: I stay in the loop on this. If you go out on an actual, real live date, I want to know about it. Three: You treat her with respect. She may be tiny and a little bit crazy, but that won’t stop her from murdering you in your sleep if you hurt her.”

“Deal” Peter said instantly. “Anything. Everything.”

Jeorek took a moment to appreciate this little glimpse at the man Peter must have been before the fire. At the earnest young man, that while still a schemer, mostly just wanted approval. Jeorek sat back and offered the man a smile “Then get to sweeping her off her feet, boy.”

Peter grinned back and nodded. He stood to let the Sheriff go back to his work. On his way out the door Jeorek called:

“Oh, and if you hurt her, I’m going to shoot you in the face.”

 

\- - -

“Full moon is tomorrow.”

“Mmm.”

Peter settled into the space behind Stiles, tucking his nose into the nape of her neck. She turned the page of the book she was reading for school and tucked her feet up under Peter’s thigh.

“It’s going to be like herding chickens, you know” Stiles said conversationally.

“The difference being that I have Derek and you to help herd said chickens.”

Stiles snickered “They’re awfully big chickens.”

Peter huffed his own laugh “I just had a very interesting talk with your father.”

“I heard” Stiles tucked a bookmark into the book and set it aside, turning around to face him. “I had a similar conversation with him when I took him to lunch today.”

“Oh?”

“MmHmm.” Stiles bared her teeth at him playfully and Peter snapped his back. “Well?”

“Well what?” Peter asked, thumbs brushing against her sides.

“Are you going to ask me or not?”

“As you what?” Peter pretended to be ignorant. It earned him an elbow in the gut.

“Ask me out. On a real live date.”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Stiles pulled away, Peter held onto her, his superior Alpha strength aiding him. She flashed angry Beta eyes at him.

“Stiles.” She growled and he growled back.

“I thought. From what you said.” Stiles huffed a little, settling back into his arms.

“I do” Peter said, cradling her jaw in his hand. He pressed their foreheads together, “Have dinner with me?”

Stiles smiled “Okay.”

“Good.”

The pair settled back down onto the bed, and Stiles reopened her book. Isaac wandered into the room and settled on the floor to work on his own homework. A calm quiet seemed to permeate the house as it settled into the quiet of Saturday evening.

Then: “See if I kiss you afterward though.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *throws Danny at you* Ta Da!  
> *throws serious Papa Stilinski at you* Look Steter progresses! Maybe it will distract you from Danny!
> 
> As always, many thanks to AvengingPhoenix for her patience and love.
> 
> And THANK YOU, for reading.


	23. Twenty-Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The full moon makes puppies of us all. Scott gets a case of foot in mouth, and then they hug it out. Derek waxes mildly philosophical and then gives in to the inevitable.

 

**_Twenty-Three:_ **

_“Sometimes you fight what you are, and sometimes you give in to it. And some nights you just don’t want to fight yourself anymore, so you pick someone else to fight.”_

_~ Laurell K. Hamilton, Incubus Dreams ~_

There were six of them now. Running through the trees as the full moon rode high in the sky. Sometimes they chased each other, wrestled in the dirt. Sometimes they ran for miles and miles. The big black Alpha (more wolf now, than beast) orbited the new pack. Always circling, always watchful. Always returning to the small female and then darting off again.

Jackson and Danny gravitated together now as wolves just as they did as boys. Isaac explored, darting ahead and then returning as if he was making sure that these new people of his hadn’t vanished in the misty night. Derek was watchful, quiet and studious. He would not lose another pack. Stiles reveled in the freedom of running. Of her bonds with her packmates both here and left behind.

Every time the Alpha brushed past, she would reach out a hand and let it slip through his fur.

Jackson and Danny were full wolf. Playing in the dirt carefully so that none of their still healing wounds re-opened. They grappled and wrestled and Isaac stood there watching them for a moment before he had a visible moment of _‘yep, I’m gonna do it’_ and threw himself at the two. The three sprawled out and rolled, Derek reached out and bodily lifted Stiles out of the way.

A long, loud, angry Alpha roar rent through the air and echoed through the trees.

All five of the betas froze. Stiles and Derek exchanged a look and turned to the three piled on the ground. Isaac was pale and trembling, Jackson had sat up on his haunches, growling. Danny was watching the two nervously.

Technically the rogue had a link to all three of them, having been the one to bite Isaac and Jackson and claw Danny. However, Isaac had been in Peter’s care for weeks now, had fully integrated into the pack. Peter was his Alpha, despite the connection Isaac might still share with the other Alpha. Peter had bitten Jackson with Jackson’s permission, and had been the only one to bite Danny.

The Hale Pack Alpha appeared out of the brush. The big black wolf crouched next to the three betas, a menacing growl rumbling in his chest. Derek slowly let go of Stiles, both moving into defensive positions to either side of their Alpha.

What if the rogue wanted them back?

Another furious howl rent the night air and Peter chuffed. He began to herd his new betas away from that howl. It was the only thing to do. Two of his betas were barely days old, and wounded at that. The third was still in his first moon. Stiles and Derek ran a perimeter quickly, making sure they weren’t being followed as they made their way deeper into the woods.

 

\- - -

Scott sat bolt upright on the sofa, flailed and crashed to the floor with a loud thud. Melissa poked her head into the room from the kitchen “You okay there kiddo?”

Scott raised a hand in the air, waving it around, and wheezed “I’m good.”

He rolled over and pushed himself to his feet, walking into the kitchen rubbing the ache out of his chest. He couldn’t help but grin in victory to himself at the sight of the Sheriff leaning against the counter while his Mom breaded the chicken they were having for dinner. Scott had _suggested_ to his Mom that they invite the Sheriff over to spend the evening with them since all the wolves were going running.

“Did you hear that?” Scott asked.

“Yeah” the Sheriff said.

“Do you think it was the rogue?” Scott asked, boosting himself up onto the counter next to the man he called ‘Dad’ in his head.

“Probably. Don’t worry they’ll be fine.”

“You sure?”

Jeorek patted Scott’s shoulder reassuringly, “There’s six of them. Get off the counter.”

Scott stayed still for a second too long and the Sheriff grabbed him by the scruff and pulled him off the counter. “Set the table while you’re up.”

Scott rubbed at the back of his neck and turned to the cabinet, grumbling “Geeze, way to parent Dad.”

He froze. Jeorek froze. Melissa froze. The trio stared at each other for a strained moment.

“Scott?” Melissa asked softly.

Scott winced and closed his eyes, took a deep breath and blurted “Well you are!”

“Scott -”

“You’re my Dad!” Scott exclaimed, getting angry, his ears turning red. “I know you’re not, really, but you really really are! You raised me and Stiles with Mom, not my other dad! And Stiles and I would totally be okay if you guys wanted to be together, because then we’d be a real family!”

“Oh, son.”

Scott’s eyes were still squeezed shut, so it took him by complete surprise when he was roughly pulled into Jeorek’s chest and wrapped in a hug. Scott’s arms flailed a bit as he heaved for breath, chest tight in his panic over having said it. Then they settled into fists in the back of Jeorek’s shirt.

He smelled like Old Spice and gun oil.

“Breathe, Bud” Jeorek murmured into Scott’s floppy hair. “It’s okay.”

Scott took in a wheezing breath and settled for clutching at the man and matching his breathing pattern. He felt his Mom’s hand settle in the middle of his back and rub soothing circles. He sagged into the arms around him.

“I wish you were my real Dad” Scott whispered into the chest he was leaning on.

Over his head Melissa and Jeorek shared a teary look. The Sheriff was man enough to admit that his kids could make him cry. She smiled tremulously at him and Jeorek responded by gently wiping a tear off her cheek.

“You are my Son, Scott” Jeorek said. “You pretty much have been since the day Stiles dragged you home covered in mud and bleeding from the head.”

Scott let out an embarrassing hiccup and tightened his grip. He was sixteen, he wasn’t supposed to be clinging to a parent trying not to bawl.

“Scott, honey?”

Scott turned his head to look at his Mom, she was smiling softly at him. “I’m sorry, Mom.”

“You don’t need to apologize, sweetie.” Melissa said, smiling softly “Your dad left a long time ago, and you and Stiles have always been like brother and sister. We do co-parent a lot.”

“Do you guys like each other?” Scott wondered “You know, like more than friends?”

Jeorek cleared his throat and Melissa blushed.

“We’d be totally cool if you did!” Scott said, pulling away to look at both of them.”

“The two of you have talked about this?” Jeorek asked.

Scott nodded “Stiles and I think it would be awesome!”

Jeorek sighed, a little exasperated that they’d apparently been plotting behind his and Melissa’s backs. Melissa couldn’t help but roll her eyes, but she wasn’t surprised. She’d had sixteen years to get used to Scott, and twelve to get to know Stiles. The pair gazed at each other over Scott’s bowed head before Melissa raised a questioning eyebrow at Jeorek.

Jeorek was the question here. Claudia’s death had hit him hard. She had been his soul and breath and life. Sometimes when he looked at Stiles he was struck by how much she looked like her mother and he would feel that loss like a punch to the gut. He knew though that Claudia would want him to be happy. He liked Melissa. She had helped a lot with Stiles just after Claudia, even though she’d been dealing with her ex choosing his career over his family.

He’d definitely thought about it.

Jeorek raised an eyebrow back, and then wiggled both of them with a grin. Melissa grinned back with a snort and turned back to the stove.

“C’mon, Bud, let’s get the table set.”

Scott pulled away after one more squeeze to the back of his neck and went to get the plates. “Don’t think I don’t realize that you didn’t answer me.”

“We wouldn’t dare” Melissa said. “But I think all four of us need to be together for this discussion, don’t  you think?”

“Yeah.” Scott said mutinously “Doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.”

His parents laughed, and Scott grinned at being allowed to call them that.

 

\- - -

Derek grunted and heaved Danny off on him. He sat up, squinting in the light filtering through the trees and snorted to himself. Slowly he climbed to his feet, stretching his arms over his head in a satisfying way. How had this become his life?

When did his life become this miasma of life threatening situations mixed with annoying moments of awkward, like the way Jackson had his nose shoved into Isaac’s armpit?

He glanced around the clearing the pack had camped out in during the night and cracked his neck.

“Please don’t do that” Danny said, unashamed as he ogled Derek’s abs.

“Don’t look at me like that, it’s like being groped by my little brother” Derek grumbled.

Danny winced and looked away, nodding. He stood up to stretch out his own knots and kinks before wandering over to his best friend and kicking him in the shin. “Hey shithead, wake up.”

Derek snorted and looked away. His eyes went over to where Uncle Peter and Stiles lay, the huge wolf wrapped securely around the Pack Mom. He’d known it was coming, this change in the pack hierarchy.

_He had eyes._

He did take a moment to appreciate how wolf-like Peter looked. There was so little of the beast in his Alpha form now.

Derek’s eyes flashed around the clearing. Jackson had wrapped his arms around Danny’s leg and was attempting to pull his best friend to the ground. Isaac was laughing as he tried to get out of the way of the inevitable tussle.

Derek wasn’t sure how this had become his life, but he hadn’t felt this happy or content since before the fire. Laura had tried, but something was always missing. There had always been that guilt over Kate in the back of his head, coupled with the guilt of leaving Uncle Peter behind.

He and Peter had talked about that. Peter had been furious at first, but then he’d gone all quiet and then he’d looked at Derek with such sadness. Kate had preyed on him, a vulnerable boy who had just been instrumental in the death of his first love. The blame had solely been on the Argent woman’s shoulders after that.

Derek shook his head and decided to just embrace what he had. He crawled over to the soon to be Alpha Pair and crawled his way into Stiles’ embrace. When he looked up triumphantly, Peter was gazing at him with amused ruby eyes. Derek flashed his own blue ones in response when he felt Stiles curl around him.

Ah, triumph!

Peter snorted an Stiles mumbled “Shhh, sleeping.”

“Not everybody” Derek whispered to her.

“No. Too early.” Stiles said grumpily. “All boys go to sleep.”

Derek huffed a silent laugh “They’re fighting.”

Stiles’ eyes opened a crack and she settled a very _Mom_ look on him “You’re the oldest, take care of it.”

Peter’s laughter could be felt all the way through Stiles as Derek got up and went to break up the early morning tiff, grumbling about not asking for brothers, thanks.

Isaac appeared instantly and claimed Derek’s spot in Stiles’ arms and she smirked a little and said to Peter: “Before eight in the morning, they’re your kids.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOOK AT WHAT I DID! *points at the Stilinski/McCall family feels* I DID THAT!
> 
> This is how I imagine Derek without all that super heavy manpain weighing him down.
> 
> Thank you to AvengingPhoenix, my lovely, lovely beta, who squealed with me and then pointed out my spelling/grammar errors.


	24. Twenty-Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Girl bonding and date night prep. Allison starts to put some of the pieces together.

 

**_Twenty-Four:_ **

_“People are like waves of the ocean, some cover you with tides of refreshment, whilst others drown you in floods of turmoil.”_

_~ Imam Ali as ~_

On Monday Lydia cornered Jackson and they got into a screaming fight over everything. It had been days since he was attacked in the woods and he hadn’t seen or spoken to his girlfriend in all that time. He had permission to tell Lydia whatever he wanted; either the truth, or lie and stick with the animal attack story. Jackson decided to lie.

Lydia had had enough. Jackson had been acting strange for more than a week before he was injured, and then he had refused to speak to her at all while he was in the hospital. Jackson’s mother had told her to come back another time when she’d gone by the house. She slapped him, broke up with him and told him to get his shit together.

The others all decided to stay out of it. Scott had been standing nervously next to his locker trying to talk to Allison without giving anything away. Allison had been aloof and distracted. When Lydia went storming past, she grabbed Allison’s arm and dragged her off. Scott had pressed himself to the lockers with wide eyes and no small amount of fear.

Then, during Chemistry, the Sheriff and one of his Deputies appeared to take Mr. Harris in for questioning as a person of interest in the Hale fire. Harris had glared so hard at Stiles (like it was her fault) that a few seconds longer and she thought she might have spontaneously caught fire. Danny had sympathetically patted her hand because everyone in class knew how much Harris hated her (no one knew why).

Stiles kind of hoped that her dad would end up arresting Harris, because she knew that when he came back to school he would take it out on her and she’d have detention for the rest of the year if he had anything to say about it.

Jackson decided to take his anger out at practice that afternoon. The stress of the attack, of nearly dying, of the change rolled him into a little ball of raging blond fur. The breakup with Lydia (which was now all anyone could talk about) was the last straw. He took it out on the Lacrosse team.

Scott was on the bench nursing his bruised chest within the first five minutes of practice. Stiles took exception to this and abandoned Lydia and Allison to sit on the bench next to Finstock with Scott’s head on her shoulder as he gasped for air. She glared daggers into Jackson’s head for the rest of practice, causing Isaac to tackle him pretty hard; which made Finstock bench him.

By the end of practice the whole team was mad at Jackson. Danny refused to talk to him after being nailed by too many lacrosse balls thrown at werewolf speed. Isaac glowered at anyone who came near him, eyes flashing golden.

“Jackson!” Finstock screamed as the team collected their gear and trudged toward the locker room “I don’t know what your damage is, and I really don’t care. But if you don’t get over it by next practice I’m benching you!”

Jackson growled and Stiles appeared behind Finstock where the coach was leaning over to get into Jackson’s face. She snarled at him, eyes going gold. Stiles outranked him, and she had had enough of his temper tantrum. Jackson backed off and angrily headed for the locker room.

Stiles turned back to Scott where she had deposited him on Isaac’s shoulder. She picked up their sticks and helmets and Isaac helped Scott to his feet. He was breathing just fine now, but (like always) the asthma attack had taken a lot out of him.

“Bilinski!”

“Coach?”

“Make sure McCall doesn’t die, got it?”

Stiles grinned at Finstock “Got it, Coach.”

Finstock nodded and headed off as well, following Isaac and Scott. Stiles sighed and went to retrieve her bag.

“Is Scott going to be okay?” Allison asked when Stiles reached where she and Lydia were still sitting.

“Yeah. He’ll be okay.” Stiles smiled at them as she slung her bag over her shoulder “He always is.”

“I’m sorry, Stiles” Lydia said. “This is kind of my fault.”

“No it isn’t” Stiles said. “Jackson’s default setting is ‘douche’.”

Lydia snorted “It sort of is.”

Stiles grinned at them “I’ve got to go, I have a thing.”

“What thing?” Lydia asked as they headed for the school. “A date?”

Stiles blushed a bit “Maybe.”

“You do! You have a date!” Lydia exclaimed. “Who is it with? Is it that Peter guy you told us about?”

Allison looked up, paying attention now. Peter? She knew Stiles liked a guy named Peter, but she had new information now. “Isn’t he too old? What did your Dad say?”

“My Dad likes him” Stiles said. “He and Peter sat down and talked about it. We’ve got all kinds of rules we have to follow, but…”

Lydia was grinning “But you get to date the older guy!” She clapped her hands excitedly “What are you wearing?”

Stiles stopped walking and looked at them with wide eyes “I don’t know! I’m still not over actually having a date!”

Allison had a worried little crease between her eyebrows. Her Dad had told her that the Sheriff was either an ally or part of the Hale Pack. Peter was the Alpha’s name. Did Stiles have a date with a werewolf? Did Stiles know he was a werewolf?!

Lydia patted Stiles’ shoulder “Do you know where you’re going?”

“No” Stiles shook her head. “Just that we’re going to dinner.”

“Okay, so not too casual but not hugely fancy either.”

Stiles bit her lip “I still can’t do my own makeup.”

Allison made a decision then “Lydia and I can come over and help you get ready! I’m sure with all the clothes we got you we’ll find the perfect first date outfit!” And Allison could get a look at this Peter guy to find out if he was a werewolf.

Lydia nodded “We’ll make you look perfect. When’s your date?”

“Seven.” Stiles said “Dad’s got the night off so he said it was okay.”

Allison nodded, already planning which weapons she could secret into the Stilinski house on her person “Makes sense. Sheriff father home to answer the door with shotgun in hand.”

“He already did that.”

“Wait, what?” Allison asked, surprised.

“Yeah, the day they met. Dad answered the door with his twelve gauge over his shoulder.”

Lydia snorted in amusement “Then Allison and I will come over and help you.”

“Thank you. Both of you.”

 

\- - -

“Are you okay Sheriff?”

Jeorek looked up, a frown marring his features “My daughter has a date.”

Janine’s eyebrows rose as she looked at the Sheriff. He looked like he couldn’t really believe what had just come out of his mouth. “Stiles has a date?”

“Stiles has a date?” Willis stuck her head around the corner, eyebrows in her hairline. She wandered over to stand next to Janine.

“My daughter has a date tonight.” Jeorek said “When did my little girl get old enough to date?”

Janine and Tara grinned at each other. Janine offered the Sheriff a sympathetic little grin “They do that.”

“Is there something wrong with the boy?”

“What? Oh, no. Peter’s fine.”

“Wait, Peter? As in Peter Hale?” Janine and Tara exchanged a look. “Isn’t he a little old?”

“She’s almost seventeen” Jeorek said. “Peter’s only twenty-seven.”

Tara nodded a little to herself. She had been working the Hale case alongside the Sheriff. “He did spend almost seven years in a coma.”

Jeorek gestured at Tara “That’s one of the reasons I’m okay with this. Peter’s spent all this time in the hospital. He hasn’t been running about in the world doing who knows what. That’s one of the reasons why I said yes.”

“Haven’t he and his nephew been staying with you?” Janine asked.

Jeorek nodded “That’s how I know he’s a good man. Watching them makes me think of how Claudia and I used to be.”

“You’ve set ground rules?” Tara asked. Jeorek nodded. “Then I don’t see a problem. Just make sure he knows we’re all gonna be watching him. Closely.”

“I’ll do that.” Jeorek nodded, then left.

The two women looked at each other for a bit, waiting until the Sheriff was gone before they started laughing. Tara turned to head into the bullpen “Oh, I am telling everyone our little Stiles is growing up and dating a boy!”

Janine headed back to her desk, shaking her head. Stiles was growing up and the Sheriff had finally realized that. She picked up the phone and dialed a number, tapping her fingers on her desk as she waited. If Tara had her way Peter Hale would be monitored by every cop in Beacon Hills every time he showed his face in public. If Janine had her way, well…

“Melissa!” Janine exclaimed when the other end of the line was picked up “Listen, the Sheriff is freaking out about Stiles’ date tonight…”

 

\- - -

“What about this one?” Allison asked holding up one of the silky, billowy shirts Lydia had made Stiles buy. It was white with big blue flowers printed on it.

“With what?” Stiles asked, wrinkling her nose “Are jeans too casual?”

Lydia whacked Stiles on the shoulder and wrenched her chin around “Hold still.”

Allison gazed at the shirt before throwing it on the maybe pile on Stiles’ bed. She started rifling through the closet again.

“Knock, knock!” Melissa poked her head through the door and smiled at the girls “Look at you!”

“Hi Mrs. McCall.” Lydia and Allison chorused.

“Girls” Melissa made her way into the room and joined Allison at the closet.

“Why are you here?” Stiles asked, trying to see Melissa and not move her head at the same time.

“Look up” Lydia ordered.

“Janine called me. Seems your Dad is freaking out a little about his little girl growing up” Melissa said as she pulled the purple dress out of the closet. She held it up to herself and raised an eyebrow to Allison. “I came over to back him up as he watches you leave on your very first, real live date.”

Allison dug through the closet and came up with a pair of cute sandals she had made Stiles get and held them up. Melissa nodded. “Lydia?”

Lydia turned to look at the outfit choice and nodded her approval before grabbing the appropriate eye shadow. There was a bit of giggling as they got Stiles into the dress (Lydia made her put on matching underwear). Then Allison sat her at the desk and took a curling iron to her short hair, proceeding to give her soft, bouncy ringlets floating around her face.

When it was all over, Lydia nodded in approval and Melissa stationed her in front of the mirror on her closet door. Stiles stared at herself in the mirror, eyes wide. “I look like her.”

Melissa smiled and put her hands on Stiles’ shoulders “You’re beautiful, sweetie. She’d be so proud of you.”

“You think so?”

“I know it” Melissa said. “I know I am.”

They exchanged a smile in the mirror. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Hey! No crying!” Lydia said “You’ll ruin my hard work!”

All four women laughed and Melissa took Stiles’ hand “Let’s go knock the socks off all those boys downstairs, yeah?”

Stiles straightened her shoulders “Yeah. Let’s do it. I have a date.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this chapter didn't turn out like I expected. Allison needed the opportunity to observe though. So meh. *shrugs*
> 
> The Big Date is next.
> 
> As always, thank you to AvengingPhoenix for her read-through and encouragement.


	25. Twenty-Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles is all grown up and Papa Stilinski isn't sure he likes it. Peter and Stiles go on their first date.

**_Twenty-Five:_ **

_“Love, like everything else in life, should be a discovery, an adventure, and like most adventures, you don’t know you’re having one until you’re right in the middle of it.”_

_~ E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly ~_

The boys were an island. Jackson was in exile, stuck in the uncomfortable wingback chair in the corner that Stiles’ mom had bought on a whim while she was pregnant with Stiles. Danny was sitting in Jeorek’s armchair because its back was to the corner. He was still sulking about the lacrosse ball he’d taken to the face during practice.

Isaac kept glaring over at him from where he was stationed on the arm of the couch. He was alternating those glares with half worried, half concerned looks at Jeorek, who was pacing in the kitchen. He kept appearing in the doorway and peering up the stairs. Then he would vanish, then reappear and glare a bit at Peter.

Peter was sitting casually at the kitchen table nursing a beer. He was watching the stairs with a scary amount of concentration. He looked relaxed, but Isaac could see the heavy line of tension going through his body.

Scott was curled up on the sofa where he’d been all afternoon. Aside from the exhaustion that always accompanied an asthma attack, he had a huge purple bruise across the left side of his chest thanks to Jackson’s tackle. He had an afghan draped over him and a huge ice pack draped over his side. He was dozing off and on, shoulder and head pressed into Derek’s side.

Derek was the most relaxed person in the room. He was watching the Mets on the TV, the volume low. His arm ran along the back of the couch, his hand tucked under Scott’s t-shirt. The veins stood out stark and black as he drained Scott’s pain. He wondered what they were having for dinner as his stomach rumbled. Scott huffed a little laugh into his side and pinched him.

“Not my fault” Derek said softly to the floppy head.

Scott snickered again and peeked up at him with sleepy brown eyes “We’ll order pizza.”

Everyone turned to face the stairs as Lydia and Allison appeared. Lydia ignored Jackson and swept over to the kitchen doorway where suddenly both Peter and Jeorek were standing. Allison pursed her lips and glared a little at the sight of Scott and Derek on the couch and stationed herself by the couch.

Melissa came down the stairs and stood next to Jeorek, taking his hand and squeezing. He squoze back as he watched his daughter descend the stairs with wide eyes.

Stiles stopped on the last step as Peter appeared in front of her. He’d gotten his hair cut and he was wearing a very nice blue shirt that offset his eyes. He took her hand and kissed the back of it. “You look beautiful.”

The nervousness vanished and she met his gaze with a smile of her own and let him draw her into the foyer. Her dad stepped forward and drew her into his arms. They held on for a minute until Jeorek pulled back enough to cradle her chin in his hand.

“You’ve always been beautiful Stiles, you’re stunning tonight. You look so much like your mother.”

Stiles popped up and kissed him on the cheek “thanks Papa.”

Jeorek cleared his throat and watched Peter help her into her coat like a gentleman. “Home by ten, it’s a school night.”

“Not a minute later, I promise” Peter said.

Jeorek gave Peter a smile with teeth “I told Janine and Tara you were going out tonight, so behave.”

“Papa!” Stiles objected “Every cop in Beacon Hills will be watching!”

“Exactly.” Jeorek said with a happy smile “Have fun Jitterbug.”

They waited until the front door closed and they heard the camaro pull away from the curb before Jackson opened his mouth.

“I can’t believe there’s a girl under all that.”

Scott nailed him in the head with a throw pillow as Isaac sent him an icy glare.

Melissa snorted and looked to Lydia and Allison “Would you girls like to stay for dinner?”

“No thanks” Lydia said. “Allison and I are going to the movies.”

The girls left and Isaac let himself slide backward onto the unoccupied couch cushion, legs draped over the arm. His head rested on Scott’s knees and he sighed. Scott raised a hand into the air and waved it about from his spot mashed into Derek’s side.

“Can we get pizza now?”

Melissa chuckled and squeezed Jeorek’s hand one last time before she went to retrieve the handset “Yes Scott, we can get pizza.”

“Awesome.”

Derek’s stomach rumbled again in agreement.

\- - -

Peter took her to La Rue. An upscale bistro style french place. Nice enough for dressing up, but not fancy enough to require a tie. Stiles ate snails and traded bites of Peter’s filet mignon while they talked about books and mythology.

She caught Deputy Grant peering through the window at them and she made a face at him. Peter ordered creme brulee for dessert and they shared it while they talked about their favorite kinds of food. Stiles decided that while interesting, escargot was not her particular cup of tea (and she knew tea, okay?).

After they finished they walked down main street looking in shop windows and enjoying the warming air of spring. Peter bought her a bunch of big yellow sunflowers and she walked with them tucked into one elbow with her other tucked through Peter’s.

Deputies Grant and Wheeler drove past in their cruiser slow enough to let both of them know they were being watched. Stiles got excited over a street cart selling hats and she spent a few minutes trying them on. She coerced Peter into a fedora with peacock feathers and plopped a big, wide brimmed white monstrosity onto her own head and got the vendor to take a picture of them with her phone.

They headed back to the car down the other side of the street, peering into those shop windows as well. Peter vanished into the confectioner’s shops while Stiles admired some gaudy sparkly hair clips and returned with a big cone of blue cotton candy. Stiles laughed at him and they shared it as they finished the walk back to the car.

The ride back was quiet, with Stiles watching Peter as he drove. When they got back to Casa Stilinski he helped her out of the camaro and they walked up the steps. They paused by the front porch.

“Thanks for my flowers.”

“They suit you” Peter replied.

They gazed at each other for a long moment awkwardly. Then Stiles shrugged and said: “I know we both live here, but I still want my front door goodnight kiss.”

Peter huffed a quiet laugh and stepped forward, weaving his hand into her hair and leaning toward her “Your wish is my command.”

He kissed her and she smiled into it as she slid her arms around his neck. They stood there on the porch kissing for a couple of minutes, wrapped up in each other until Jeorek just couldn’t take it anymore and flashed the porch light at them several times. They broke apart laughing and went inside.

\- - -

Derek, Scott and Isaac were asleep in a pile on the couch. Jackson and Danny were nowhere to be seen (they had gone home after pizza), and Jeorek was glowering from the kitchen table, all of his guns arrayed on the worn surface, all in different states of being clean. Melissa sat next to him with a mug of tea in one hand and a look of fond amusement on her face.

There was a round of quiet goodnights. Stiles gave her father and Melissa kisses on the cheek and put her sunflowers in a vase before both vase and girl vanished up the stairs. Peter nodded respectfully to Jeorek and retreated himself.

The Sheriff sighed “Why did they have to grow up?”

Melissa smiled “Because if they didn’t we’d have killed them by now.”

“Okay, that’s true.”

“Don’t worry, Peter’s a good man. At least he’s not some punk who’s only looking to get in her pants.”

“Don’t do that” Jeorek looked pained. “I don’t want to think about that.”

“How about this, the second we find out Scott has a date you can give him the ‘treat her like a princess’ lecture” Melissa offered.

Jeorek looked into the living room where their son was drooling on Derek “You sure it’ll be a girl?”

Melissa followed his gaze and rolled her eyes “Either way you should still give him the talk. If anything it’ll be wildly entertaining.”

Jeorek laughed “Our children are going to hate us, aren’t they?”

Melissa’s smile softened as she looked at the man sitting at the table with her. She liked the way he said ‘our’. She stood up and rinsed her mug and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Not enough to really mean anything. I’m going to bed.”

Jeorek watched her vanish up the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand there's the Papa Stilinski/Mama McCall pairing I was headed for. ^_^
> 
> Also, I am a true romantic, so here, have a fluffy date of fluffies. You're welcome.
> 
> Big thank you to AvengingPhoenix who approved the portion with the date and assured me it was ok.


	26. Twenty-Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate is an angry bunny. Stiles is the talk of school.

**_Twenty-Six:_ **

_“Anger is stupid, and stupidity will kill you more surely than your opponent’s blade.”_

_~ Patricia Briggs, Dragon Bones ~_

Kate Argent was furious. The kind of furious that made grown men cry; and she had certainly done her fair share of making grown men cry in recent weeks. Her brother had all but disowned her. Over what? A few measly werewolves? It’s not like the Hales were the first time she’d ever purged a pack, and it certainly hadn’t been the last.

Her philosophy? Kill them all.

It took nearly two weeks to get all of her ducks in a row. She’d holed up in an old warehouse lot downtown, made a few phone calls, then waited. Her handpicked guys started coming into Beacon Hills in ones and twos until she had nearly a dozen hunters at her call. She poured over maps, pinning sightings of the Alpha in red and sightings of the local pack in blue.

In the interim two teenagers from the high school were attacked. She’d put the first two guys in town on them. There was no way in heaven or hell that at least one of those kids wasn’t coming out of this attack turned.

Her hunch had been right, both of the boys had healed way too quickly for their injuries for either of them to have remained human.

Slowly she had been compiling a list of known or suspected werewolves, and a second of known sympathizers. The two boys were confirmed. Her old sweetie Derek and his Alpha Uncle. There was a tall blonde kid and a floppy haired kid too, but they weren’t confirmed. The Sheriff and his daughter were both sympathizers though.

Taking them out of the equation would be tricky and they would have to be very careful. From what Kate and her associates had observed the Sheriff was much beloved by the town, and the Sheriff’s Department had practically helped raise the girl.

Tracking the rogue Alpha’s movements were a little trickier. Chris was on it, so was the Sheriff’s Department, which meant that they had to be extra careful not to tip their hand. Chris thought that she had taken his advice and left Beacon Hills; she didn’t want to reveal herself too early.

On top of that the Hale Pack was taking the protection of both Beacon Hills and the Preserve quite seriously. That was how they knew that there were at least six wolves in the Hale Pack. The pack was running regular patrols all over the Preserve and the edges of town. She couldn’t tell you how many times her hunters had all almost been spotted.

But Kate was resolved. She wasn’t leaving Beacon Hills until every single werewolf in it was cut in half.

She was so caught up in her anger. In her need to revenge herself against the werewolves for her brother’s anger that she forgot about the human element in play. So deep into her plotting she failed to see the rest of the board.

While she was so busy tracking werewolves and planning how best to kill them all, she didn’t notice that the Sheriff was closing in on her with a single minded determination that had won him two elections.

Three arrests, records seized, people of interest questioned. Jeorek Stilinski had stacks and stacks of evidence piling up against Kate Argent. Not only on the Hale Fire, but on four similar fires in the last fifteen years within the US. The Feds had tried to come in and take the case away twice already, and both times the Sheriff had smacked them down so hard he’d left their ears ringing.

This was his case. The Hale Fire had had the most casualties, and the suspect was in his town.

There was a reason Stilinski had run uncontested in the last election.

\- - -

Going to school on Tuesday was like walking into the Twilight Zone for Stiles. The second she, Scott and Isaac got out of her jeep she received stares from the majority of the student body. She and Scott shrugged at each other, and Isaac looked like he was going to strain something as he tried to hear enough to figure out what had everyone in a tizzy.

Stiles made it to her locker with only the tips of her ears red as she tried to ignore the staring. As she opened her locker to get her books for her first two classes she froze. Two girls across the hall were whispering heatedly, and she had heard her name.

_“I heard it was an older guy, in his twenties.”_

_“Mary said he was model beautiful.”_

_“I hear she was wearing a dress. I didn’t even know she knew what a dress was!”_

_“Mary says he took her to La Rue.”_

_“Really?”_

_“Uhuh. She took pictures.”_

_“Michaela saw them outside Margos eating cotton candy.”_

_“Seriously?”_

_“Well, it is Stiles.”_

It was said in a derogatory sort of way, like that explained everything. It sort of did, but Stiles wouldn’t admit it. She hid a grin in her locker. She was the talk of the school. She was the talk of the school because she had not only gone on a date, but she’d gone on a date with and older guy; and she’d done it in a dress.

“Everyone is talking about you.”

“Hi Lydia.”

Lydia waved her hand dismissively “Talk.”

“What about?” Stiles asked innocently as she closed her locker. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the two girls stop talking and eavesdrop.

“Tell me everything. Where did he take you? Somebody mentioned something about flowers?” Lydia hooked her arm through Stiles’, her nails digging into her arm “Did he kiss you?”

Stiles grinned “We went to La Rue. I ate snails.”

Lydia’s nose wrinkled “Ew.”

“He bought me sunflowers and we walked down Main Street” Stiles said as Lydia started leading her down the hallway. The two girls (who Stiles’ knew didn’t share her AP English class) followed closely behind.”

“Was he a gentleman?”

“Yes. Papa had the entirety of the police force looking out for us” Stiles rolled her eyes.

“You have to admit he’s a bit older than you.”

“Papa likes Peter!”

Lydia patted her arm condescendingly “I know that. You’re still his daughter. Now. Did. He. Kiss. You?” Stiles grinned at Lydia and she bounced with a little squeal “He did!”

Stiles said nothing and headed into the classroom. She knew that the two girls would spread this like wildfire across the school. Having the Sheriff’s approval to date an older guy would be juicy gossip.

Sometimes she didn’t understand teenagers.

And she was one.

\- - -

Marco watched through the sight of his rifle. That disgusting werewolf was walking around like he wasn’t some kind of monster. Like he had the right to even exist. He was standing outside the car wash without a care in the world.

Marco scowled and chambered a round.

He had orders not to attack any of the wolves. Apparently boss lady had a plan or something. Marco didn’t see why they didn’t just kill them one by one when they were alone and vulnerable.

He snorted and fingered the trigger.

He was loaded up with wolfsbane bullets. Here was the perfect opportunity. What would she care if there was one less monster to deal with later. This whole waiting thing was for the birds. He squeezed the trigger.

The report of the rifle firing echoed across the quiet street. People screamed. The wolf went down and Marco shouldered his weapon with a satisfied grin before he retrieved the casing and headed for his SUV.

One less thing to do later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *dodges rotten fruit* I know! I know!
> 
> I didn't plan to leave it there, but I'm stuck at my sister's for a couple days so my writing time has been severely compromised. I will post more tomorrow, promise.


	27. Twenty-Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A life needs saving, an antidote must be given, and a perpetrator be found.

 

**_Twenty-Seven:_ **

_“If pain must come, may it come quickly. Because I have a life to live, and I need to live it in the best way possible. If he has to make a choice, may he make it now. Then I will either wait for him or forget him.”_

_~ Paulo Coelho, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept ~_

The siren was screaming as Jeorek took the corner onto Hickory Avenue just that little bit too fast. He hopped the curb as he pulled into the parking lot of the the $3.00 Car Wash. He was out and running across the lot toward the ambulance before the department’s newest addition Deputy Wilson (one week out of the academy) managed to get his fingernails out of the door.

Jeorek rounded the end of the ambulance and his eyes narrowed as he took in the scene. Derek was being strapped to a gurney, rivulets of blood flowing down his arm. There was a small puddle of it on the ground next to Derek’s very crunched phone. Derek himself was pale and sweating, wincing in pain.

“Derek?” Jeorek demanded as soon as he was close enough.

Derek looked up and instinctively reached out for his Pack Elder. Jeorek clasped his hand “Hurts.”

“I know, what happened?”

“Got shot. It was loud, I didn’t see anyone.”

“Something’s wrong” Jeorek said grimly, looking at the sheen of sweat on Derek’s brow.

Derek nodded, then winced as the gurney was jostled “I think it was a hunter. I’m not healing like I should be and I smell wolfsbane.”

“I’ll call Peter and let Melissa know to expect you” Jeorek said, patting Derek’s arm and then allowing the paramedics to load him into the ambulance. He watched it pull out of the lot as he raised his phone to his ear.

“Peter? It’s Jeorek, Derek’s been shot.”

 

\- - -

The doors of the emergency room slammed open. Melissa rushed to Derek’s side, grabbing onto his hand as he writhed on the bed in pain. One look at his darkly veined shoulder and arm told her all she needed to know.

He was hurt, and something was deeply, deeply wrong.

She escorted the gurney to a room and waited until the medics left before she pulled out a small penlight and said “Derek, open your eyes for me.”

Derek grunted, claws gouging into the side of the bed and his glowing eyes focused on her. She quickly checked his pupils (earning a pained snarl) and then checked on his shoulder. She peeled off the gauze and grimaced. The wound was deeply black with infectious black ooze and blood seeping from it.

“Derek I need you to concentrate on keeping the wolf in, okay?” Melissa demanded, voice clear and calm as she stretched out one foot and hooked the supply cart, pulling it to her. “The others are on their way, but I have to get the bullet out now. We can’t wait.”

Derek grunted, eyebrows furrowing “Do it.”

Melissa lifted the forceps from the tray and both nurse and werewolf watched them glint in the fluorescent lighting. Derek gulped and met Melissa’s gaze. Her eyes were steady and reassuring and he nodded.

The forceps went in.

Derek howled.

 

\- - -

They knew something was wrong. All of them, including Scott knew it. The second school let out four werewolves and a human were bolting from the school in haste. By the time they gathered between Stiles’ jeep and Jackson’s porsche, Stiles was already on the phone.

“What happened?”

_“Stiles.”_

“No. What happened?”

_“Derek’s been shot. By a hunter.”_

“In broad daylight?!” Stiles demanded angrily, eyes flashing.

 _“Yes. Jeorek said something about wolfsbane”_ Peter said and the hair raised on the back of her neck.

“What do you need.”

_“Scott needs to go get Deaton and take him to the hospital, he should be able to help Derek.”_

“Scott’s boss?”

 _“Yes. Have him take Isaac with him, Deaton likes to be mysterious and neutral, he might need a little coercion”_ Peter instructed and Stiles tossed her keys to Isaac and the two were gone in a screech of tires. _“I want Jackson and Danny to meet me at the corner of Meer and Oak. On foot.”_

Jackson and Danny grinned ferally at each other and Jackson unlocked the porsche so they could throw their things into the car. Jackson pressed his keys into Stiles’ hand and the two vanished over the hill into the woods.

“I’m going to the hospital” Stiles said as she got into the driver’s seat and threw the small car into gear. The tires squealed as she tore out of the school parking lot. “Peter.”

_“Yes, Dear?”_

Stiles’ eyes narrowed on the road at Peter’s lilting tone “Do what you have to, but please -”

 _“I will do my best not to kill anyone”_ Peter stated clearly.

“Thank you” Stiles said, and hung up.

 

\- - -

The bell above the door of the Beacon Hills vet clinic jingled as the door flew open and the door banged against the wall with a rattle of the panes of glass. Scott ran through the door, panting as he hoarsely yelled: “DOC!”

Alan Deaton appeared, frowning “Scott?”

“You have to help!”

Deaton eyed Isaac searchingly “Help with what?”

Isaac rolled his eyes, and being already on edge, he lost his patience. He growled and his eyes flashed gold. He bared his fangs. Deaton drew back sharply, safe behind his mountain ash check in desk.

“Scott, step away from him.”

Scott rolled his eyes and flapped a hand, breathing hard. Isaac slapped his inhaler into his hand and Scott puffed on it. Isaac placed his hand between Scott’s shoulder blades and drew out some of the pain his bruised ribs and overworked lungs was causing him.

“Our Alpha sent us” Isaac said. “He said you would know how to cure wolfsbane poisoning.”

“And who, exactly is your Alpha?” Deaton hedged cautiously, watching Isaac aid the human boy that worked for him part time.

“Peter Hale” Scott huffed out, then did his second puff on his inhaler and pocketed it. “He said you would be able to help Derek.”

“Derek Hale has wolfsbane poisoning?” Deaton asked, opening the barrier and leading both boy and wolf into the back of the clinic.

“He was shot by a hunter this afternoon.”

Deaton nodded and led the two into his small private office. He started rummaging through a tall file cabinet in the corner. He had been the Hale Emissary for a long time before Talia was killed. Now that the pack was reestablishing itself he felt obliged to aid them until he could find a suitable candidate for a young, growing pack.

“Do you know what kind of wolfsbane it was?”

Scott shook his head rapidly and Isaac said “No.”

“Right.” He pulled out several jars and began mixing things together. Scott shifted from foot to foot impatiently, biting his lip.

“He’s going to be okay, Scott” Isaac whispered, and Deaton had the courtesy to pretend he couldn’t hear them as he worked.

“He’s _dying_ Isaac!”

“Stiles is with him, and she won’t let anything happen to him on her watch.”

“What if we don’t get there in time?”

“We will. We’ll get the antidote there in time.”

Deaton cleared his throat and turned, holding out a small vial. Scott snatched it. “It’s a mix of several common strains of wolfsbane. Do you have a lighter?”

“Nope.”

Deaton rummaged through his desk until he came up with a clear plastic lighter. He handed this to Scott as well “You need to burn the wolfsbane and put it directly into his wound. As soon as possible. Do you understand?”

Scott nodded distractedly. Isaac said “Right. Burn, ashes, direct on wound” as he was dragged from the clinic by a very determined Scott. Isaac offered Deaton a little wave.

Deaton couldn’t help it. He waved back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woomph, there it is!
> 
> And now Deaton is in the picture. I'm super excited for where this is going.
> 
> Thank you to AvengingPhoenix for betaing and not killing me for torturing poor Derek.


	28. Twenty-Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A cure, and an attack is planned.

**_Twenty-Eight:_ **

_“Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.”_

_~Markus Zusak, The Book Thief ~_

Peter stood calmly on the corner, arms crossed over his chest as he glared with icy eyes at the warehouse on the corner. As soon as Jeorek had called him he’d gone to the sight of the shooting. Despite it being crawling with cops and news people, the Sheriff had managed to sneak him through to the place they thought the shot had come from.

Peter had caught the hunter’s scent almost immediately. It had been covered up by the SUV he drove, but when you hang around a place long enough, you leave traces behind. Peter knew how hunters worked, especially ones that were trying to stay under the radar of other, more moral hunters. That meant the nearby warehouse district.

Tracking down the hunter’s scent had been nothing after that.

Jackson and Danny appeared on either side of him, chests heaving as they fell out of their werewolf state. He took the time to scent them, reassure them before he turned back to the warehouse. The two teens followed his gaze.

“That the place?” Jackson growled, blue eyes flashing gold briefly.

Danny echoed the growl as he lasered in on the target.

“Yes. The hunter that shot Derek is inside. I want both of you to circuit the building, we need to know how many are in there” Peter ordered. The two betas nodded. “Do not go in. We’ll wait for Isaac and the Sheriff to get here first. No killing.”

“Regroup here?” Danny asked.

Peter nodded tightly “I’m going to scout the block, make sure they’re not using any of the other buildings. Do I have to tell you to be careful?”

Both betas shook their heads and then took off. Peter shifted to beta form as he dialed a number on his phone.

_“Yeah?”_

“I found it. We’re scouting, I need Isaac here. If you want to make arrests, now’s the time.”

On the other side of the call the Sheriff’s mouth thinned into a line and he nodded _“Got it, twenty minutes to mount up.”_

“I’m giving you thirty” Peter said, then hung up.

\- - -

Derek’s claws were digging into her forearm in agony, even as she drew out the pain Stiles’ fangs had dropped the second she’d entered Derek’s room. She had been across the room and on the edge of the bed, crooning into his hair in seconds. Derek’s head was on her shoulder, and he was panting wetly into her neck.

“Shhh” Stiles’ murmured as Melissa wrung out the rag she was using and wiped down Derek’s face again. “It’s okay. You’re fine.”

Derek twisted, his face screwed up in pain as the door opened and Scott fell into the room. Derek stilled for a moment as Scott’s familiar citrusy and sweet scent reached him. The floppy haired boy picked himself up off the ground with aid from Isaac and the two entered the room.

“Do you have it?” Stiles asked.

Scott nodded and fumbled in his pockets. He had paled at the sight of Derek on the bed and his hands were shaking. Isaac joined Stiles at the bed, pinning Derek’s legs. He had a hunch that this would hurt like hell.

Scott poured the little vial of wolfsbane out onto the rolling table and shakily lit it. The flowers flared and quickly crumbled into ash. Scott swept them into his palm. He turned to Derek and Melissa quickly pulled the bandage off his wounded shoulder.

Scott hesitated. Derek met his gaze. Something passed between them and Derek nodded once. Scott swallowed and slapped the ashes down over the bullet hole. Derek roared in pain, arching off the bed and writhing. Stiles and Isaac held him down.

Slowly the poison receded from his veins, and Derek slumped back into Stiles, panting.

Isaac’s phone rang and the blond retreated into the hallway to take the call. Melissa began to clean up quickly so that she could go take care of the paperwork to make sure that none of this looked suspicious, and then she left the room.

Stiles kissed Derek’s forehead and slid out from under him. She clasped her hand to Scott’s shoulder and the two soul-siblings shared a look of deep communication.

Isaac entered the room “Stiles? Peter’s found it.”

Stiles nodded “Right, I’m coming. Scott, look after him?”

Scott nodded, a determined expression crossing his face. Isaac and Stiles followed Melissa from the room and it got quiet. Scott turned back to the bed where Derek was watching him with tired eyes.

“There’s something here, isn’t there?” Scott asked, a stubborn tilt to his head.

Derek sighed gustily and his eyebrows did a thing that said he _really_ didn’t want to talk about emotions. Scott’s mouth thinned and he inched closer to the older man, determined.

“Derek?”

Derek sighed and gusted out a soft “Yes.”

Scott sighed and leaned over him, whispering a soft “Good” across his lips before pressing his to them. Derek froze in surprise and then leaned into the kiss. It was soft, careful and promising.

\- - -

Peter was growling deep down in his chest, standing on the roof of the warehouse next to the target. Jackson was standing just to the side, trying to brace himself for what he knew was coming. Footsteps behind them had them turning to watch as Isaac and Stiles leapt up onto the roof and ran to meet them.

Isaac stopped next to his pack brother, Stiles didn’t stop until she had tucked herself into Peter’s side.

“She’s in there” Peter growled.

“How many total?” Isaac asked.

“About a dozen” Jackson said. “They’ve got a lot of artillery though.”

Isaac nodded “Where’s Danny?”

“Keeping a watch for the Sheriff. We’re going in right before they storm the place.”

Stiles pulled Peter’s chin down to look him in his glowing red eyes “Don’t let her get to you. She deserves to die, but don’t let it be the end all be all. I can’t lose you.”

Peter nodded stiffly. It was a hard promise to make when he had spent six years contemplating nothing but Kate Argent’s death. His grip on the girl tightened. He knew though, that if he did it. If he killed that woman and got his revenge in that way, he would lose the creature in his arms. He would lose his whole pack. His grip on sanity was stronger than it had been in years, but that little bit of vindictive psycho still buried deep within in him knew. It knew if he killed one more person, he would never stop.

“The hunter and Kate are our priorities” he said as Danny loped up to them. “I don’t care about the rest, but those two do not escape. Am I clear?”

The four betas nodded. Danny chimed in with “The Sheriff’s team is about five minutes out.”

“Well alright then” Peter said with a feral grin. His shirt tore away as he shifted rapidly into his Alpha form.

“Let’s go knock on the door” Stiles said, and the four betas shifted as well.

The Alpha of the Hale Pack of Beacon Hills threw his head back and _howled_. The entire town seemed to pause for a second, and then four more howls rose up to answer. The wolves blurred into motion.

Inside the warehouse Kate Argent felt a chill go down her spine and she quickly grabbed the nearest weapon, ordering her men to arm themselves.

On the street in his SUV, lights and siren blaring, the Sheriff of Beacon Hills nodded. It was starting.

In a hospital room a wounded wolf curled tighter around the boy in his arms at the sound of his Alpha’s howl.

Deep in the darkness of the Preserve red eyes gleamed, and a bone chilling howl rose up in answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MUAHAHAHAHA!
> 
> Behold the sweet boy kisses! Aren't they adorable! Also, it's the beginning of the end for Kate Argent.
> 
> Big thank you to Miss Avenging Phoenix for her beta. She's happy with this one folks!


	29. Twenty-Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The warehouse is attacked. The Sheriff is a bamf. All's well that ends well.

  ** _Twenty-Nine:_**

_“and to every action there is always an equal and opposite or contrary, reaction.”_

_~ Isaac Newton ~_

The attack came on three fronts. The gigantic black beast that was Peter Hale came crashing through the front door of the warehouse with an earsplitting roar. Jackson and Danny plunged straight down from two of the skylights overhead. Stiles and Isaac crashed through the high windows on either side of the warehouse.

Everything seemed to pause for a second, and then the world seemed to explode. Rifles started firing, Peter exploded into motion, roaring. Jackson and Danny sprang at their closest opponents. Isaac headed to aid his packmates. Stiles darted through the din and chaos, aiming for the most protected corner of the warehouse.

Heading for Kate.

 - - -

The Sheriff’s SUV careened around the final corner and ground to a halt with a jerk. Following behind several more police cars, an ambulance and two K-9 units. Rescue and Fire were on call, and the Sheriff had a distinct plan.

He was, after all, going in looking for a sniper and a mass murderer.

The vehicles blocked the exits and anywhere anyone could viably get a vehicle through. A perimeter was secured. The cops were all on edge, they could hear the gunfire and screaming coming from inside as the Sheriff and his handpicked SWAT until prepared to storm the building. Speculation ran rampant through the ranks. Ranging from arms deal gone bad to downright betrayal.

The team stormed into the building. The gunfire increased. Everyone held their breath.

Inside, Jeorek and his team separated into twos and began a sweep of the warehouse, top to bottom. Several of the teams came across unconscious, bloodied bodies.

In one room they came across a heavily injured man chained to an exposed beam with a sniper rifle lying next to him. High above, peering down, Jackson watched as the cops took the hint and grabbed the guy. Then, clutching his dislocated arm as his werewolf healing pushed three bullets out of his body, he loped off, his job done.

In another room two men and a woman stood in a circle in the center of the room, backs to each other. They were firing at the slightest movement. Two of the two man teams stormed the room to neutralize the trio. The younger of the two men gave up when the other man took three to the chest, crashing to the floor, never to get up again. The woman took one in the arm, one in the leg.

As the deputies arrested the two living hunters, Danny and Isaac slipped out of the room deftly. They had been patronizing the hunters from the shadows. Isaac had a bit of blood smeared on his cheek, the graze long since healed. Danny’s shirt was torn for similar reasons.

The main warehouse floor was peppered with glass, unconscious hunters, and conscious ones. The team gathered there and stormed the room in unison. They took down and arrested the rest of Kate’s men, a couple were killed.

Jeorek swept through all the chaos with Tara Willis by his side. He knew that if he wanted a shot at taking Kate Argent alive, he had to get there before Peter lost control. He headed straight for the rear office of the warehouse.

\- - -

Stiles winced and growled angrily. How had she let this happen? How had Kate Argent gotten the drop on her? She was the one with advanced senses! Kate had though, and now Stiles was trapped in her hold, her knee slowly knitting itself back together, with a gun pointed at her head.

Peter was prowling around the edge of the room, growling in such a dark way that for the first time since she had been turned, Stiles was truly afraid of her Alpha.

“You either let me go, or princess here gets two wolfsbane bullets to the brain pan” Kate said, turning herself and her captive around so that she could keep her eyes on the monster stalking her. She was bleeding profusely from a set of claw marks on one shoulder. “What’s it gonna be, Hale?”

Stiles growled again and swiped her clawed hand back. Kate cursed and clocked her with the butt off the gun, then wiped blood off her cheek, smearing the right side of her face in crimson.

“Maybe I’ll just shoot you anyway?” Kate hissed into Stiles’ pointy werewolf ear. “Only good monster is a dead monster.”

Peter’s furious growling got louder.

“Ah, ah, ah!” Kate exclaimed, pulling Stiles with her to dodge the Alpha’s cautious feint. “Careful now, or her brains decorate the floor. Somehow I don’t think even a werewolf could survive that.”

Kate yanked Stiles’ head back, exposing her throat and Stiles’ growled a warning, baring her fangs. Peter echoed it. Kate grinned in a sickening facsimile of a smile “I leave here alive, cujo, or neither of us do.”

“You think he’s going to kill you?” Stiles said.

“He wants to rip my throat out, don’t deny it.”

“Oh, he does, with his teeth even” Stiles smirked grimly. “But, you see, my Alpha made a promise, and he never goes back on his word. You aren’t going to die. If anything you’ll be maimed.”

“If he isn’t going to kill me, what’s he gonna do?”

“Incapacitate you until the Sheriff arrives. Which, by the sound of it, will be any second now.”

“What?”

“Oh, yes. You, Kate Argent, have earned yourself a one way ticket to spending the rest of your life in a windowless six by eight cell.”

“You’re lying.”

“Always, but not about this.”

“That’s for damn sure” Jeorek said from the doorway. He and Willis entered the office, guns trained steadily on the blonde woman holding Stiles captive. The big wolf faded into the shadows, eye gleaming red.

“Kate Argent, you are under arrest” Deputy Willis said. “Lower your weapon and put your hands on your head.”

Kate laughed, eyes wild, her grip tightened around Stiles’ throat, fingers digging in like claws. “I’m not going to jail.”

“You have two choices” the Sheriff stated icily. “You either let her go and come quietly, or you don’t and I shoot you between the eyes. What’ll it be?”

Kate snarled “I think I’ll take this little -”

A shot rang out. Kate’s head snapped backward, blood spraying out in a fine mist. She dropped like a bag of rocks and Stiles went down as well, panting in shock.

In the doorway to the room stood the Sheriff of Beacon Hills, back ramrod straight, eyes cold, face blank, his gun still smoking.

 - - -

It took until well after dark to wrap things up. In the end all the bodies were headed for the morgue, the injured to the hospital, the rest to jail. Stiles’ disappearance could not be explained away, so she had sat in the passenger seat of her father’s SUV, wrapped in his jacket, sipping at a lukewarm cup of bad tea.

She played traumatized kidnap victim very well, if she said so herself.

In the end her statement was taken and the Sheriff had done enough so that he could leave. They swung by the hospital to get Stiles looked at so the record could go into the police report. Stiles took the time to look in on Derek and stood there, leaning on the doorframe, watching Derek and Scott breathe each other’s air with a satisfied little smile on her face.

There would, of course, be some fallout with Allison, but that was a problem for another day.

Jeorek retrieved his daughter and they both made their exhausted way home.

The porsche, the jeep and the camaro were all there when they got there. Jeorek shook his head and headed for bed. Stiles looked into Peter’s room to see three betas curled up together in the Alpha’s bed. She scanned them all for serious wounds, and finding none, left them to it.

She then followed her Alpha’s scent up to her room. Peter was waiting for her on her bed. He was lying face down, nose buried in her pillow. He was shirtless, wearing a pair of soft gray sleep pants. Stiles smiled softly and gathered a change of clothes before heading to the bathroom.

One shower later and the bone weary girl was crawling into her bed and draping herself over Peter’s back. Her breathing synchronized with his over the next few minutes, and then the tension began to bleed out of Peter’s frame.

Slowly he rolled over until she was draped over his front. His eyes were still glaringly red, and Stiles reached up and cupped his jaw in her hand. She smiled softly and the red bled from his eyes, leaving them the clear blue he’d been born with.

“There he is” Stiles whispered softly.

Peter quirked an eyebrow as he brought up both arms to wrap around her.

“There’s the man I’m falling in love with.”

Peter sighed, and kissed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it. I don't really do graphic detail of violence too much, I prefer to use the sweeping narrative style instead and let you guys visualize it in your minds as you go.
> 
> I hope this managed to satisfy.
> 
> Up next we deal with the fallout of Kate's death. Allison figures some things out and finds out about Scott and Derek. Also, the rogue Alpha is still out there somewhere.
> 
> Major thank you to AvengingPhoenix, who reassured me that the way I ended it for Kate was quite satisfying for her as a reader.


	30. Thirty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Argent's get the news. The Hales bond. Allison and Stiles have a talk.

  ** _Thirty:_**

 

_“I never thought much of the courage of a lion-tamer. Inside the cage he is at least safe from people.”_

_~ George Bernard Shaw ~_

It took the remainder of the week to clean up the mess at the warehouse. CSU had to collect evidence, paperwork had to be filled out. The FBI had to be informed that one of their most wanteds was now dead. They were sending someone out to close up the case from their end at the beginning of the next week.

Early on Wednesday morning found Jeorek standing on the Argent’s doorstep to deliver some rather unsavory news.

Victoria answered the door and stood there looking at him with a grim look on her face. She let him in silently and led him into the kitchen where Chris was reading the paper and working on a stack of pancakes.

“I’m sorry for the interruption.”

“It’s alright, Sheriff. What can we do for you?”

The Sheriff ran a hand through his hair and sighed “It’s about your sister, Mr. Argent.”

Chris looked up then, all of his attention caught. He gazed at Jeorek Stilinski for a long, tense moment. He took in the stubborn set to his shoulders and the clenched jaw. How he looked like he hadn’t slept in a long time.

“She’s dead, isn’t she?”

Jeorek nodded “I’m sorry.”

“How?” Victoria asked.

“Resisting arrest. One of her guys shot a member of the Pack” Jeorek said, eyes icy. “I’ve had enough evidence to arrest her ten times over, but we couldn’t find her. Unfortunately for her, her man wasn’t all that great on covering his own tracks.”

“You mean his scent, don’t you?” Chris asked.

Jeorek nodded stiffly “None of the men killed during the raid was killed by a wolf, just so we’re clear.”

“Who killed my sister?”

“I did.”

“She wouldn’t surrender?” Victoria demanded.

“She had a gun to my daughter’s head and was threatening to take her with her” Jeorek said. “I’d make the same call.”

“Don’t beat yourself up about it” Chris said. “My sister was never the kind to give up.”

Outside the room, pressed against the wall, Allison let a few tears fall. She knew, deep down, that her Aunt had brought this on herself. It still wasn’t enough to reconcile against the memories she had of a wonderful woman who always had time for her little niece. Her Aunt was dead, and Allison missed the woman she had believed she was.

She listened thoughtfully as the Sheriff gave her parents the information they would need if they decided they wanted to claim the body. She hid behind a shelf when the Sheriff was escorted out. Her mind flew in all directions wildly for a few minutes before clarity returned.

 It was time to talk to Stiles about her boyfriend. Her murdering, werewolf boyfriend.

\- - -

Peter was pacing measured steps across the charred floor of what had once been the living room of the Hale House, counting out square footage. Derek was standing in the middle of the entry way staring contemplatively at the staircase.

“Everyone’s going to need to have their own room, right?”

“Yes” Peter answered “Well, everyone except for Scott, perhaps?”

Derek growled, a token protest to the sly teasing in his Uncle’s voice. Then he smirked and said “And Stiles, right?”

Peter snorted and toed a ruined chair out of his path “We will need a nursery.”

Derek poked his head into the room “She’s sixteen.”

“Eventually. I’m thinking far into the future, dear nephew.”

Derek rolled his eyes “Don’t let her know that. She might figure out your game and run screaming for the hills.”

Peter turned and raised his eyebrows at Derek “And what game would that be?”

Derek wandered into the room “The one where you think you’re the best thing ever and convince her you’re right.”

Peter grinned “Wasn’t it you who said I was a good Alpha?”

Derek shrugged “You are. Doesn’t mean your ego couldn’t use a little downsizing.”

“Stiles won’t let my ego go that far” Peter said, turning to stare at what used to be a wall dividing the living room from what had been Talia’s office. “I’m thinking a library.”

“That’s why I like her. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you” Derek said, turning himself. Peter nodded in agreement. He could admit that he’d been a manipulative little shit as a kid, and scheming as a teenager. Stiles was very good for him.

There were a few minutes of contemplative silence as both Hale’s listened to the old, burnt out house settle around them. When one of them finally spoke it was Derek, with a hushed, reluctant voice.

“I think we should tear it all down. Start over.”

Peter found himself nodding in agreement “A fresh start. Nothing to haunt us.”

 - - -

“I need to talk to you.”

Stiles looked up curiously at Allison. She looked a little nervous, but mostly determined. “Sure. What’s up?”

Allison shook her head “Not here.” Then she grabbed Stiles’ arm and dragged her from the cafeteria.

Stiles watched her serving of curly fries sadly as she let herself be pulled along. She knew they’d be gone when she came back. One or all of the boys would have picked at them until they were gone. Vultures, the lot of them.

Allison tugged her into the gymnasium and then turned to gaze at Stiles with wide eyes “You’re dating a werewolf.”

Stiles stared at the other girl. She’d been expecting something like this, but not this bluntly. “I know.”

“He’s a monster! Really, if you don’t believe me you can ask your Dad, he knows… Wait, you know?”

Stiles nodded “Yep.”

“How can you know he’s a monster and still want to date him!? He’s attacking people!”

Stiles’ eyebrows crawled upward in surprise “Peter hasn’t attacked anyone, Allison.”

“What about Jackson? And Danny?” Allison demanded. “Or that Isaac kid. My Dad told my Mom that he’s one too.”

“Uh, Allison?”

“Stiles, he isn’t safe. He’s not human!”

Stiles sighed, touched by Allison’s concern, misplaced though it was. It was obvious that while Allison obviously knew the truth about most of what had been going on in recent weeks, she didn’t have all the facts.

“Allison, how much have you been told?”

Allison stopped at the question, puzzled “I overheard my Dad and Aunt arguing about werewolves. My Dad told me the truth about what my family does. He said Peter Hale is the Alpha of the local pack. There have been a lot of animal attacks lately, and Dad said only an Alpha can change people.”

“And since Jackson, Danny and Isaac are all changed now, you think its been Peter?”

“Who else could it be?”

“Allison” Stiles placed both hands on Allison’s shoulders and guided her over to the bleachers to sit down. “Peter hasn’t been attacking anyone. There’s another Alpha out there.”

“There is?” Allison said. She gazed at her hands for a few moments, then spoke: “The hunt through the woods for Jackson? Danny getting mauled? That was someone else?”

“Yes.” Stiles explained “There’s a rogue Alpha out in the Preserve. I don’t think it even knows it was human.”

“So Peter didn’t bite anyone?”

“Well…” Stiles hedged.

“He did?!”

“They both said yes” Stiles said rapidly. “Jackson was all torn up that he’d have died without the Bite. Danny developed an infection and chose the Bite over a fifty-fifty chance of dying.”

“What about Isaac?”

“The other Alpha bit him. Peter took him into the pack after.”

Allison watched Stiles for a bit. Looking for something in her face that said she was lying.

“We’re not monsters, Allison.”

Stiles knew it was a risk, letting Allison Argent of all people know that she, Stiles Stilinski was as werewolf. It was calculated though. It would determine once and for all whether or not Allison could be trusted not to kill them all.

“You’re one too” Allison said tensing up.

“Yes.”

“Show me.”

Stiles looked Allison in the eyes, tense and ready to act if Allison reacted badly. Her eyes glowed gold and her fangs dropped. Allison jumped, started and stared. They gazed at each other until Stiles let the change fade.

“Does Lydia know?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“If you had the choice would you want to know that the monster under the bed was real?”

Allison shook her head at that. Sometimes she wished she’d never overheard anything and was still blissfully ignorant. “If she figures it out? Lydia isn’t stupid, Stiles.”

“I know that. Lydia is one of the few people I’ll admit is smarter than me. If she ever asks I won’t lie to her.”

There was silence for a few beats, then Allison said “I don’t know what to think.”

“Come to dinner tonight. I’m making spaghetti and the whole pack will be there. Come to dinner and decide for yourself whether or not we’re a bunch of homicidal monsters.”

“I don’t know…”

“C’mon” Stiles wheedled. “Don’t all the experts say it’s best to observe something in its natural habitat?”

“I guess…”

“Great! Six thirty, my house.”

Stiles fled the gym. Allison sat there for a little while before she too left. If Stiles had been paying attention to her surroundings a bit more instead of focusing solely on Allison, she might have noticed the racing heartbeat coming from under the bleachers.

As the door clicked closed behind the dark haired girl, wide, surprised (and a little frightened) brown eyes appeared to stare through the bleachers at the door. Disbelief crossed pretty (but worn and tired) features.

Werewolves? Really?

Erica Reyes crawled out from under the bleachers, dragging her bag behind her. She usually ate lunch in here because she could be alone. Lunch was never this exciting. She sat down and stared at her hands. It had to be real. Didn’t it?

The way Stiles’ face had changed. The weird sideburns and the pointy ears. And those glowing eyes.

Erica bit her lip as she collected her things and headed to her next class. She needed to figure this out. Google, here she came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay in updating. I came down with a really nasty case of food poisoning last night and I spent most of the night and this morning puking.
> 
> I had more planned, but I'm really tired, so I'm giving you what I've got.
> 
> So we're moving forward, and I give you Erica. ^_^
> 
> Thanks to AvengingPhoenix who beta'd again, but was also willing to let me whine about how crappy I feel.


	31. Thirty-One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Hunter's Observation of Canus Werewolficus in its Natural Habitat: by Allison Argent.

**_Thirty-One:_ **

_“The oldest form of theater is the dinner table. It’s got five or six people, new show every night, same players. Good ensemble; the people have worked together a lot.”_

_~ Michael J. Fox ~_

Allison rang the doorbell promptly at six o’clock on Friday evening. She was wearing a cute skirt and a chic blouse with her knee high boots. She was also wearing three different knives (shh don’t tell anyone). She shifted her weight as she heard a raised voice and a very loud thud, then the door was being yanked open.

Allison started.

Jackson stared back as he used one hand to keep Scott away from the door. He turned a little, eyes still on Allison and called “She’s here!”

A hand appeared in the doorway and smacked Jackson’s cheek loudly. Jackson’s eyes flashed gold and he growled angrily at Scott, who was fleeing, cackling in victory as he vanished into the house. Jackson rolled his eyes and Allison couldn’t help a small smirk in amusement.

_“Let her in, Jackson!”_

Jackson rolled his eyes again, looking grumpy again as he stood aside to let Allison into the house. She stepped inside and the door closing behind her felt almost like the door of her tomb slamming closed behind her. She stood there awkwardly as Jackson abandoned her in the entryway. She followed slowly, standing in the hallway as he jumped over the back of the couch and sat down.

Mythbusters was on TV, and Danny was seated on the floor between the couch and the coffee table, his books spread across the glass top as he worked on his homework. A scruffy, dark haired man was slouched in one corner of the sofa, booted feet on the one clear corner of the table, one ankle crossed over the other. His head was tipped back, mouth open, asleep. The remote sat on his stomach, rising and falling with each breath.

“Allison!”

Allison turned and smiled hesitantly at Stiles. The other girl had a towel draped over her shoulder and a wide grin on her face.

“Glad you made it!” She gestured at the trio in the living room “You know those two, that’s Derek. C’mon, we’re through here.”

Stiles led her into the dining room which led into the kitchen. The Sheriff was sat at the table, casework spread over the table and a rather grumpy look on his face. Isaac was sitting next to Scott at the bar counter, tutoring the human in english. Stiles was back in the kitchen stirring a pot on the stove. A man stood leaning against the counter, eating cherry tomatoes right out of their little basket.

“You know Scott and Isaac” Stiles said, pointing her spoon at the two boys. “This is my Dad, and this is Peter, he’s our Alpha.”

Allison glanced at the Sheriff who waved her off, a crease between his eyebrows. Peter gazed at her with intense blue eyes, she couldn’t maintain the stare for very long before she glanced away. Scott was watching her curiously, looking hopeful and dreading at the same time.

“Welcome Miss Argent” Peter said smoothly, offering Allison a tight smile.

“Thank you for the invitation” Allison replied, a little stiff as her manners kicked in.

“Of course” Peter said with a gracious nod. “Stiles and Scott seem to like you, despite your unfortunate family.”

Allison didn’t know what to say to that. On the one hand she felt insulted, but on the other she could understand his ire. Her Aunt had killed off nearly his entire family.

Stiles elbowed Peter and gave him a look “Be nice. And stop eating my tomatoes.”

Peter smirked down at her and stuck one more tomato in his mouth before setting the basket on the counter. He wrapped an arm around Stiles and pulled her close. She squeaked and flailed her spoon, splattering little drops of sauce across the kitchen as he kissed her.

Allison, Scott and Isaac all stared. The two boys exchanged a highly amused look as the Sheriff coughed and grumbled: “I might approve, but not in front of me. The parent.”

Stiles pulled away from Peter, blushing. She turned back to the stove “Dinner’s almost ready. We’re waiting on Mom to get home, then we’ll eat.”

Scott had a wildly happy grin on his face for some reason that Allison didn’t understand. He swivelled around and said “Can we finish after dinner Dad?”

The Sheriff eyeballed Scott over the rim of his file. He raised an eyebrow.

“Please? We have all weekend!”

Both eyebrows went up “You expect me to believe that if I let you two leave it you’ll finish in time for school on Monday?”

Isaac looked indignant “Hey!”

“Stiles will remind me” Scott said.

“When did I become your homework tracker?” Stiles wondered as she slid halved cherry tomatoes into the sauce. Peter was pouring the noodles into the strainer in the sink.

“Since always” Scott said, the ‘duh’ clear in his voice.

“You’ll finish it tonight or you’re grounded again” Jeorek stated. Scott groaned.

“Danny, Jackson come set the table please” Stiles said.

Allison was confused for a moment. Danny and Jackson weren’t in the room. Then the two boys appeared in the doorway and Allison remembered the enhanced hearing of werewolves and she flinched a little. Jackson smirked at her nastily as he passed her. Scott and Isaac quickly fled the room. Scott tugged her after them.

The trio retreated into the living room. Derek hadn’t moved at all, and Scott let got of Allison as he moved across the room. He leaned over Derek and ran his fingers through his hair, messing up the carefully gelled spikes. Derek’s forehead creased in irritation. Scott smirked and leaned over to kiss Derek’s slightly open mouth.

Hurt surged through Allison as she watched Derek reach up and pull the boy she liked over the back of the sofa into his arms. She turned away.

Isaac was watching her with sympathy on his face “You didn’t know, did you?”

She shook her head. No, no she hadn’t.

“It’s new” Isaac offered, not unkindly “Happened Tuesday.”

Allison nodded. She knew he was trying to comfort her, but it still hurt. She had been sure that Scott was just trying to work up the nerve to ask her out. It was a little insulting to know that while she’d been fully invested, Scott had apparently been focusing on someone else. She could see the appeal, she supposed. Derek was a very good looking guy. But…

“I didn’t know Scott was gay?” Allison asked Isaac softly.

“Oh, he’s not” Isaac said. “At least he’s never liked a guy before. Stiles calls him Derek-sexual, but I think he’s always been bi with a leaning toward the opposite sex.”

Allison nodded. It made sense, she guessed. Beacon Hills wasn’t that big, there wasn’t too much of a pool in which to explore everything. She sighed and resolved to let it go.

The front door opened and Melissa McCall entered the house. She offered Allison and Isaac a smile, swatted the pair on the sofa, said “Not in front of the parent.” and headed upstairs. Allison couldn’t help the smile as she watched Scott and Derek jump apart like they’d been stung by bees.

“We’re ready!” Stiles called from the kitchen.

\- - -

After dinner Allison sat in her car, staring at the steering wheel like it might hold all the answers. She was confused and even a bit angry.

_They were just so normal!_

Everything she’d been told, all the evidence she’d been given said that werewolves were dangerous monsters. Sure, her Dad had told her that some packs lived peacefully and never hurt anyone, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t still monsters. But… The Hale Pack were just damn _normal_! Allison tapped at the steering wheel (a little harder than she probably should have), and it was just so _weird_. There were even humans in the pack!

The Sheriff and Melissa and Scott (sweet, derpy Scott) were all human and safe as houses with the wolves. Stiles was a giant mother hen with the attention span of a cat. Jackson was still a raging douche, despite the change. Danny was still the sweetheart that had half the female population of Beacon Hills High School wishing he was straight. Isaac was adorable. Derek was the grumpy, silent type (she didn’t see what Scott saw in him).

Even Peter seemed okay.

Allison sighed and finally turned the key in the ignition and headed home. It looked like she had an awful lot of thinking to do.

\- - -

“Is she still out there?”

Isaac peeked out the curtains again “She’s leaving.”

“Finally” Jackson said. He hadn’t liked being put on display like that.

“Be nice, Jackson” Stiles instructed from her place in the beanbag chair in the corner.

“This had a dual purpose” Peter explained as he came into the room, drying his hands on a towel. He sat down on the floor and leaned against the beanbag, leaning his head back onto Stiles’ stomach. Her hand went into his hair automatically. “It will allow Stiles and Scott to keep their friend, and also allow the Argents enough of an inside look to conclude that we aren’t a threat unless provoked.”

Jackson scowled and opened his mouth to complain some more when Isaac dumped himself onto the couch between Jackson and Scott. He landed mostly on Jackson, who grunted. Scott kicked him in retaliation before settling back into Derek’s side with a sleepy little grumble. Derek didn’t move, already fast asleep and snoring softly, head tilted back. Isaac situated himself in against Jackson’s side, much to the other blond’s surprise.

Danny finally selected a movie and put it in the dvd player. As _The Mummy_ queued up on the screen, he buried himself in the nest of blankets and pillows he’d collected over the last ten minutes.

In the dining room Jeorek and Melissa were sharing a glass of wine on the window seat in what had (at some point) been a breakfast nook. Jeorek had his arm around the tired nurse as she leaned back into his side. Melissa was sipping at the glass slowly, every now and then letting the Sheriff steal a sip. He pressed a kiss into her hair.

Life moved on into the quiet of a soft night spent with the people you loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da! Domestic werewolves! I kinda figured they needed a weekend off, so they're staying home and watching movies.  
> A little bit of Scerek, and little bit of Sheriff/Melissa, some Steter. ^_^
> 
> Have a case of the raging fluffies, okay? Okay.
> 
> Thank you to AvengingPhoenix for betaing.
> 
> And than YOU for reading. :-P


	32. Thirty-Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steter have a serious conversation. Erica is a brave cookie. Enter douchebag, stage left.

 

**_Thirty-Two:_ **

_“I like it where it gets dark at night, and if you want noise, you have to make it yourself.”_

_~ H. Beam Piper, Fuzzies and Other People ~_

“Would you consider this our second date?”

Peter looked down at where Stiles was playing with his hand. Flipping it over, spreading out his fingers, tracing the lines on his palm. He slipped his fingers through hers and ducked his head until it was pressed into her hair and breathed her in.

“I believe we’re far beyond simple dating, don’t you?”

Stiles stilled for a second, then her always present motion resumed, though she said nothing.

Peter raised her chin with his free hand until their eyes met “I know you’ve done your research, my Stiles.”

Stiles’ ears went red and her cheeks went blotchy. She nodded, biting her lip. She had done her research. She’d even asked Derek some very uncomfortable questions.

Peter sighed and let go of her chin, letting her look away. “You need more time” he said.

“Yes” Stiles whispered.

Peter looked out over the view afforded to them by the bluff overlooking Beacon Hills. They came out here a lot, just to be together. Alone together. He watched the lights of the city twinkle for a minute or two, and then his gaze traveled to the crescent moon overhead. It was partially cloudy. The heavy kind that promised rain by morning.

Spring was officially in full swing now.

Stiles shifted in his arms until she was kneeling over him. She took both his cheeks in her hands and kissed him softly. It made him think of that morning not so long ago when she had given him her first kiss in a similar manner.

“I love you” Stiles said, voice and heartbeat steady. “I know I do. I also know that you love me.”

“I do.”

“It’s just a lot to take in” Stiles continued softly. “The forever part. The one where I’m your everything and you’re mine. My parents had a love like that… When Mama died…”

“Shhh” Peter crooned, cupping her chin in his hand. She leaned into the touch.

“What if something happens to you? Or to me?” Stiles asked. “What if we bond and something happens?”

“I won’t let anything happen to you” Peter stated, ferocity in his voice and red in his eyes. Both of them knew that without Stiles, Peter would regress into the raging monster that had killed Laura. There would be nothing left of Beacon Hills by the time he finished.

Stiles was more like her father. She would endure. Do the best she could, but she would be broken for the rest of her days.

Stiles sighed and nodded, watching the red fade from his eyes. “I want this, but I’m scared.”

“Don’t be” Peter said. “I’m right here with you, and I’m not leaving.”

Stiles nodded and settled back into his embrace. Both of them turned their eyes back to the sky.

“Besides” Peter said, sly amusement coloring his voice. “You have time. I promised your father to wait until you were eighteen.”

Stiles blushed again and slapped Peter’s knee “Omigosh! Peter!”

“What? It was one of his stipulations to our relationship.”

She turned so that she could bury her flaming face in his chest “I don’t even want to think about you guys talking about _that_!”

Peter chuckled and kissed her head. Yes. They would be just fine.

 

\- - -

Erica blinked heavily as she tried not to doze off over the book she was reading. She had spent the last few days doing as much research on werewolves as she could. Now here she was, messy haired (more than usual) and falling asleep at a table at the library. She couldn’t do this at home. Not with her mother being such a mess over her dad being arrested.

That’s what happens when you cover up mass murder though.

There were so many different stories out there. She was sure most of what she’d found was bogus, but some of it had to be true. Right? She figured that the most popular notions were at least partially right. The ones that were themed throughout different cultures all over the world. Like the senses, and the the pull of the moon, super strength, accelerated healing.

It was the last one that kept drawing her attention. Advanced healing. She couldn’t help but wonder if becoming a werewolf would help with her seizures. If it could stop them, maybe even cure them. If a werewolf could be shot in the chest and survive, surely the healing could take on her epilepsy.

Erica sighed and shut her book. She rubbed at her eyes and looked at the clock on the wall. It was only five o’clock. She chewed on her lower lip for a second before a strong wave of courage seized her. She stood up and started cleaning up her table.

She would go over to Stiles’ house and _ask_ if becoming a werewolf could cure her. She nodded to herself as she slid the last book onto the cart of books to be put away. She knew there were dangers involved, probably some she’d never even thought of… but if it could stop this hell she was living in, she would take all the danger in the world.

 

\- - -

It was nearly six o’clock on Sunday evening. Close enough to dinner time for Isaac to come out of hibernation in the room he shared with Derek. Derek was out with Scott (at the movies, and no matter how much he denied it, Stiles was still going to call it a date). Jeorek was working late to finish prepping for the FBI Agents coming in first thing Monday. Melissa had the late shift.

“What do you think?” Stiles asked when Isaac stumbled his way down the stair rubbing sleepily at his eyes. “Pizza?”

“Yes please” Isaac said, collapsing face first onto the couch. Stiles snorted and got up to head into the kitchen to order. It was just the three of them tonight, so it wouldn’t get too expensive. Peter was sitting at the kitchen table pouring over old blueprints of the Hale House, as well as building codes and a new set of blueprints that he’d drawn up with the help of a local architect.

Peter had been in school for structural engineering when the fire happened. He hadn’t finished, but he’d already started taking courses to continue his degree, and Max (the architect) seemed keen on going into business with him and taking over as Beacon Hills main architectural firm.

She dragged her fingers down his arm as she passed him and he hummed. The doorbell rang just as she was picking up the handset.

 _“Not it!”_ Isaac called from the other room.

Stiles rolled her eyes and hit the speed dial for Nello’s Pizza as she headed for the front door. She pulled open the front door just as Nell answered the phone. Stiles eyebrows tried to become one with the rest of her hair at the sight of Erica Reyes on her doorstep. She quickly raised a hand, placed her usual order (she was a very loyal Nello’s customer, so all she’d had to do was say ‘hi’).

“Erica?”

“Hi Stiles” Erica said awkwardly. “Um, could we talk?”

“Sure. Would you like to come in?”

“N-no.”

“Okay” Stiles stepped out onto the porch and gestured to the swing off to the right side. Both girls sat down and Stiles set them to rocking gently. “What’s up?”

“I overheard you and Allison last week” Erica said. “In the gym.”

“You did?”

“I saw you change.”

Stiles nodded carefully “Okay.”

“I spent all weekend surfing the net, and reading books, and I need to ask you something.”

“Shoot.”

“Could you change me into a werewolf?”

If Stiles had been drinking anything it would have been sprayed all over her front she was so surprised. “I. Erica, why?”

Erica twiddled her fingers together nervously “Is it true, about the healing thing?”

“Well, yes” Stiles said carefully, then her eyes widened. “You think it could cure your epilepsy?”

“That’s why I came. I wanted to ask if it could.”

“I don’t know, Erica” Stiles said, then raised a placating hand to appease the blonde who was obviously gearing up for a fight. “I’m not the one you should be talking to.”

“Who then?”

“My Alpha, Peter.”

Erica’s chin rose in defiance “Well, where can I find him?”

Stiles couldn’t help it, she smiled. Rising she said “Come on. I’ll introduce you. Gotta warn you though, this is gonna be a really heavy talk.”

“I know. I mean, I figured.”

Stiles led Erica into the house, past Isaac who was now peering over the back of the couch curiously. Both werewolves inside the house had gone alert the second an unknown voice had spoke the word ‘werewolf’. He watched Stiles lead the girl he vaguely remembered from his gym class into the kitchen.

When they entered the dining room Peter was waiting, stood calmly by the table, eyes calculating. Stiles quickly introduced them and Peter invited Erica to sit. At her pleading look, Stiles sat down at the table too. The trio sat in silence for a long (mostly uncomfortable) minute. Then Peter spoke.

“We’re going to talk about exactly what becoming one of us would mean for you, Erica. When you have all the facts, and all of your questions are answered, then - and only then - will we talk about you becoming one. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir, I do.”

“Good” Peter nodded. “Let’s start with what you know.”

 

\- - -

Rafael McCall pulled his suitcase off the carousel tiredly, and felt immensely grateful that Beacon Hills was big enough to have its very own (if very small) regional airport. At this point the idea of being stuck in a car with Tony was about as appealing as eating shoe leather. Not that Tony Frakes was a bad partner or anything, he just wasn’t the best road trip companion.

Rafael dragged his suitcase out toward the street, Frakes’ dragging from the other hand. He stepped out into the evening air and sighed in relief as his partner pulled up in a generic gray rental car. Quickly the luggage was loaded and they were on their way to the hotel.

They had a case to deal with tomorrow. A case attached to a Sheriff who wanted nothing to do with the FBI. A man who would likely punch Rafael on sight.

That didn’t matter though, Rafael decided. He was here to get his family back, and if he couldn’t have Melissa, he could at least try to build a relationship with Scott. That was why he’d pushed for this assignment.

It was why he was here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *shoves Steter feels in your face*  
> *shoves Erica feels in your face*  
> *runs away*  
> *throws the douchebag at you from afar*  
> *hides in the bushes*


	33. Thirty-Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sheriff's Department of Beacon Hills are collectively bamf. Lydia is a smart cookie. Melissa finds out Agent Douchebag is back.

  ** _Thirty-Three:_**

_“It is not necessary to understand things in order to argue about them.”_

_~Caron de Beaumarchais ~_

Agents McCall and Frakes of the FBI arrived at the Beacon Hills Sheriff’s Department at an early seven a.m. They came into the station with cups of coffee from Mae’s and an agenda. Their mission was to go over every inch of the investigation into Kate Argent and any associates. For Frakes it was simple, fill out the paperwork, close the case. McCall was going to drag both this case and the Sheriff through the underbrush kicking and screaming until he’d overturned every single stone.

If there was anything there, anything at all, to create suspicion of conduct with Jeorek Stilinski, he would find it.

When they entered the station, both agents were surprised to find the station essentially deserted. Janine was sitting at the desk munching on the remains of a salad from the night before. The leaves were wilted, and her effort was half hearted, but it had been a long night.

“Hello?” McCall asked.

Janine looked up and tried to resist scowling at the sight of the tall man in front of her. She’d been with the department longer than both Scott and Stiles had been alive. She’d babysat both of them at one point or another. Stiles had spent a lot of time at the station after Claudia, and through her, so had Scott.

“Agent McCall, how pleasant to see you.”

“Janine” McCall said cautiously. “This is my partner, Agent Frakes.”

Janine nodded at Frakes and stood up, abandoning her wilted salad “Sheriff had us set you up in here.” She led them through the small bullpen and into what was probably supposed to be an office, but had turned into some sort of meld of interview room and file room. She opened the door and the two agents peered into the room where the deputies had somehow managed to wedge a second table.

“Where is everyone?” McCall asked, eyeing the room with trepidation.

“Oh, we had a call out early this morning. Everyone’s in the field.”

“What happened?”

Janine waved her hand around airily “Oh we’ve got a mountain lion that’s decided it likes town. Fish and Game asked for our help, and the Sheriff is pretty determined to help, especially after what happened a couple of months ago.”

McCall and Frakes exchanged a look and Frakes asked “What happened a couple of months ago?”

“Oh!” Janine looked surprised, then seemed to remember that these two weren’t local. “It killed a girl hiking out in the Preserve.”

“It killed someone?” McCall demanded.

Janine nodded “Yeah, poor girl. They never found all of her, pretty sure the thing ate some of her. Then there was that attack a couple weeks ago.”

“Attack?”

“Two boys from the high school were mauled.” Janine waved her hand again when they stared at her “Oh they’re both fine. Shock and exposure mostly, a couple broken bones… But you can see why the Sheriff’s taken over the search.”

“I can, yes” McCall said.

“Okay, so the Sheriff had everything about the case brought in. All the paperwork and most of the evidence should be here” Janine explained gesturing to the boxes stacked up in one corner of the room. “All the weapons from the warehouse are down in the evidence locker along with the personal effects of the deceased.” She handed each of them a coded card key “Sheriff has one, but these are the only other copies. Deputy Wilson’s been assigned to help you guys out. He’s getting coffee for when everyone gets back.”

“Thank you Janine” Frakes offered.

“Uh huh” Janine said, then excused herself. She headed back to her desk and her wilty salad just as Wilson came through the door, laden with cartons full of cups of coffee.

He set his burden down on the counter and leaned over “Are they here?”

Janine nodded “I just took them back.”

“You tell ‘em about the mountain lion?”

She nodded again. The Sheriff had given very strict instructions about what they were and weren’t telling the FBI guys. After the raid last week, after seeing the injuries some of Argent’s people had sustained, along with some of the damage done to the warehouse, and Deputy Willis’ story of what had happened when the Sheriff shot Kate… Well, they weren’t stupid.

The deputies had discussed it. They knew there was something going on in Beacon Hills. Something way stranger than any of them had wanted to know about. Tara Willis had been elected to talk to the Sheriff. She’d gone into his office, and an hour later she’d come out with a smile and the Sheriff had looked lighter. They all knew he was in whatever it was, and they knew what kind of man he was.

That was all they needed to know.

The job now was keeping it away from the Agents, and getting McCall out of town before he had a chance to cause his ex-wife or son any damage. (Janine was prepared to egg their car should McCall’s reappearance cause any strife between Jeorek and Melissa. She had a hundred on a fall wedding.)

“Great” Wilson said with no enthusiasm at all. “I hate being the new guy.”

Janine patted his hand “Suck it up, princess.”

 - - -

“You and I need to talk.”

Stiles looked up, curly fries dangling from her mouth in surprise as Lydia sat down across from her. The redhead gave her a look of disgust and Stiles quickly shoved the fries into her mouth and chewed.

“I’m not stupid, you know.”

“I know that!” Stiles exclaimed after she swallowed. “You’re the reason why I’m never going to be valedictorian.”

Lydia acknowledged this with a smug little nod “Then why would you think I wouldn’t have noticed all the strange things going on with you?”

“I -”

“And Isaac. And Danny. And _Jackson_.”

“I was wondering how long it would take, actually” Stiles offered. “How much have you figured out?”

“Enough to know that I might not want to know the rest” Lydia said. “I know it’s dangerous, scary, and most likely to get me maimed or killed.”

“There’s that.”

“I also know that whatever it is might also be the most badass and awesome thing I ever come across.”

“That too” Stiles nodded. “So you want me to tell you?”

“What? No!” Lydia shook her head, her expression stating perfectly that sometimes she really did think Stiles was an idiot. “I’m informing you that I know there’s something going on.”

“Oookay…”

“So you know I know” Lydia said breezily. “Also I haven’t decided if I want to know any more. I’ll get back to you on that.”

“Fair enough.”

The two girls sat in silence for a few minutes. Stiles went back to her fries and Lydia watched from over the top of her sushi with a disgusted expression. She marveled at how she now considered Stiles her friend and then shrugged to herself. It was inevitable really. Once Stiles got over her little crush and moved on, it was inevitable that the two smartest girls in Beacon Hills would gravitate together.

Allison appeared next to the table and she and Stiles eyeballed each other for a second before Allison pursed her lips together, set her tray down firmly, and sat. She looked determined, so Stiles let it go. If she got to keep her friend after this, who was she to argue?

“Can I ask a favor?” Stiles hedged after a few minutes.

“That depends” Lydia said. “On whether or not we’ll want to bury you in the woods for even asking.”

Allison’s eyebrows quirked at that. Stiles just knew the girl was thinking about how she was fully capable of burying Stiles in a shallow grave.

“It has nothing at all to do with school or boys.”

“Then I’ll hear you out” Lydia said magnanimously.

Stiles chose to let that go “You know Erica Reyes?”

“The girl with epilepsy?” Lydia asked.

Stiles nodded “We got to talking over the weekend, and she’s actually pretty nice.”

“I don’t see what that has to do with me.”

“Well, I was thinking maybe you could help me take her shopping. You know, since I have no idea what I’m doing and all?”

“Is she?” Allison hedged cautiously.

“Not yet” said Stiles, “but she might be by this time next week.” Erica had a week to decide if she really wanted to join the pack or not. A week to weigh the pros and cons and decide her fate.

“This is about what I’m not sure I want to know, isn’t it?” Lydia said with narrowed eyes.

“Yes.”

“And you know, Allison?”

Allison nodded “I can’t decide if I regret knowing or not.”

“Okay.” Lydia looked across the cafeteria to where Erica was sitting at a little table by herself “You want to make her over?”

“I want to be her friend” Stiles corrected. “I just figured she doesn’t really have friends, and this is what girls do, right?”

“It’s what a lot of girls do, yes.”

“Then what’s the harm in seeing if she wants some help?”

Lydia heaved a sigh “I’m going to regret this, I just know it.” Take in a stray and they never leave.

Stiles grinned “Thanks!”

“I’ll come too” Allison said. “It’ll get me out of the house.”

“That’s right, how are things?” Lydia asked.

“Tense” Allison said flatly. “Mom’s furious because she feels obligated to arrange the funeral. Dad’s half angry and half sad. I don’t know how to feel, considering… And I just found out my grandfather’s coming for the funeral.”

“What’s so bad about that?” Stiles asked.

Allison met her eyes seriously, trying to convey how serious the arrival of her grandfather really was. “I’ve never met him. He’s always traveling, and he and my Dad don’t get along all that well. He and my Aunt got along really well, and I think he might blame my Dad a little.”

“Great…” Stiles said, gleaning onto the unspoken warning. Grandpa Argent was not a friendly, and he was probably bringing a small army with him. One more thing to worry about on top of the rogue Alpha. Just what they needed. She eyed the remainder of her fries and was completely disgusted that she had apparently lost her appetite in the last thirty seconds.

“I’ll talk to Erica about shopping and let you guys know, okay?”

Allison and Lydia nodded their consent and Stiles stood to dump her tray. It was a travesty to throw away perfectly good curly fries, but needs must, she supposed. She hiked her backpack up onto her shoulder and wandered morosely out of the cafeteria.

 - - -

“Goodnight guys!”

The two nurses at the desk waved back to Melissa as she headed out the door. She dug through her purse for her keys as she walked toward her car, smiling a good night at the night guard at the door.

“Hello, Melissa.”

Melissa jumped and dropped her keys, staring at the ghost leaning on her car “Rafael?”

Rafael stooped down and picked up her keys, offering them to her “You look good.”

“What are you doing here, Rafe?” Melissa demanded, eyes narrowing as she edged around him cautiously.

“I’m here on a case, I wanted to say hi. I can’t say hi?”

“I suppose you can” Melissa said.

“I’d like a chance to see Scott while I’m here, if that’s okay?”

Melissa snorted “Good luck.”

“Excuse me?”

She rolled her eyes “You left, Rafe. Eight years and there’s been nothing. No phone calls, no letters, not even a birthday card.”

“I’d still like to see him, Mel. He’s my son.”

Melissa sighed. Looking at this man was both good and bad. They’d been good together, while it lasted. Happy. She could remember the good times happily, but she and Scott had never been enough for him. His career had always come first. He’d missed birthdays and holidays, little league and doctor appointments. She hated him for not loving them enough to stay. Hated what he’d put Scott through.

How could she tell him that Scott considered another man his father though? With that look of hope in his eyes.

“I’m not going to say no, Rafe” Melissa said. “But you need to be prepared to be rejected. You hurt him.”

Rafael seemed to ignore that last bit and was smiling with an edge of victory. “Great! That’s great! I’ll come by the house? Tomorrow maybe?”

“Sure” Melissa hedged.

She watched him walk away with trepidation. Then she rolled her eyes and got in the car. This was going to be such a disaster, especially when he found out that she and Jeorek were dating.

She couldn’t wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't mean for the Sheriff's Department to be collectively awesome, it just sort of happened... and I kinda like the idea of them trusting their boss enough to not need to know the creepy details to have his back.
> 
> I figured Lyida's smart enough to put the pieces together, but also smart enough to know that she might not want to know.  
> Also, I thought giving Erica a week to really make her choice was reasonable. I consider that something Peter would do after having a serious chat with someone about the possibility of turning them.
> 
> Enter the first mentions of Grandpa Argent.  
> I know, I know... just... EAT that pie, don't throw it at me, okay?


	34. Thirty-Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott and Stiles talk about Agent Douche. Peter and Derek say goodbye.

 

**_Thirty-Four:_ **

_“The world breaks everyone, and afterward many are strong at the broken places.”_

_~ Ernest Hemingway ~_

“I mean, _seriously_!”

Stiles nodded, determinedly not looking at Scott as she dipped the fry in her hand in Mae’s special sauce. Scott had basically been ranting ever since his Mom had gotten home last night and told him that his father was in town. Scott had called Stiles almost immediately and she had been listening to this since the night before.

Not that Stiles didn’t agree with every single thing that Scott was saying (she did, she really, _really did_ ), it was just that she’d been hearing it over and over _all day_. She finally rolled her eyes and stuffed the fry in her hand into Scott’s open mouth. Scott muttered a complaint, but went quiet to chew and swallow.

“I agree Scottie” Stiles took this opportunity to say. “I think he’ll get the memo. Just tell him.”

“But that would mean I’d have to see him” Scott whined. “I don’t want to see him! I want him to go away and stop trying to mess with our family!”

“So tell him that! I’ll stand next to you and glare, okay?”

Scott huffed with a grin and started in on his hamburger. Stiles nodded to herself and went back to her fries.

They ate quietly for a few minutes, then Scott said: “What’s up with Jackson?”

“He’s a douche?” Stiles guessed.

“Besides that” Scott stated (with a certain amount of ‘duh’ in his voice).

“Well, what do you mean?” Stiles asked, trying to think back on the last couple of weeks.

“He’s…”

“What?”

“Do you think he has a crush on Isaac?”

Stiles choked and spent a minute hacking up the curly fry she’d accidentally inhaled. “W-what?” she croaked.

“Do you think Jackson has a crush on Isaac?” Scott reiterated, watching her with wide eyes and handing her her glass of water.

“Why do you think he does?” Stiles wondered, sipping the water carefully.

“Well, when we do stuff as a pack, Jackson always ends up on top of or wrapped around Isaac.”

“Werewolves are tactile” Stiles said. “You know that.”

“I also know you run hot and Derek’s my hypothermia buddy because of it.”

Stiles rolled her eyes “Derek’s your hypothermia buddy because he’s the only one you want to see naked.”

“So?”

“Suddenly I’m glad you have to live life with the same dating rules as me.”

A vexed look crossed Scott’s features and a pout tugged at his lips “Don’t remind me.”

Their server appeared with a wrapped meal and their check. Stiles paid quickly and stood up. “Come on, you can come with me to drop off Papa’s dinner.”

“You’re going to make me talk to him, aren’t you?” Scott asked suspiciously, following behind her.

“No” Stiles climbed into the jeep and handed Scott the take out before starting the engine. “I’m going to help you rub it in his face that you don’t need him.”

“Okay.”

 

\- - -

Peter and Derek stood side by side in front of the Hale House, both with grim expressions on their faces. Arrayed around them was the crew hired by Max Thompson to demolish the ruin of their family home. Max himself stood off to the side with the foreman respectfully giving the last two Hales as much time as they needed.

Peter was the proactive type. Once he decided on something he made it happen as quickly and as efficiently as he could. As a result, the two had spent the last week slowly going through the house. Room by room they cleared out not only the remains of their family, but their ghosts as well.

Needless to say, Derek had spent the week crawling in Scott’s window at night. Peter had spent the week either crawling into Stiles’ arms, or finding her curled up in his bed, depending on who went to bed first.

Peter set his hand on Derek’s shoulder, and the two shared a look.

“You ready?”

Derek looked back at the house for a moment, then visibly steeled himself and nodded. It was time to let it go. Kate was dead, their family avenged. Peter was a good Alpha, building a young, strong pack with a bright future. Derek stood at his Uncle’s shoulder as his second and head beta. He liked to believe that his mother would be proud of him.

Peter turned and nodded to Max. One of the big rigs roared to life.

Both men flinched when it crashed into the house.

 

\- - -

The bad thing about the room they’d been assigned was that it had giant windows that looked out over the bullpen, allowing the officers and staff of the Sheriff’s Department to keep an eye on the two FBI agents.

The good thing about being assigned a room with giant glass windows in the middle of the department was that nothing could happen without them getting a good look at it.

The first couple of days were uneventful. They sifted through files and reports. Poured over crime scene photos and coroner’s reports. Frakes kept his ear to the ground over the mountain lion thing, and apparently not only had Stilinski taken over from Fish and Game, but he’d brought in a special team of expert big game hunters. The search for the animal seemed to be going as well as something like that could be.

It was late in the day, heading into evening when Rafael looked up to see his son and Stilinski’s daughter come into the station. He sat there for a bit, watching the young man that his son had turned into. He’d grown up.

Rafael stood up and moved to the door, determined to speak with Scott, then he froze in shock.

“Hey Janine!” Scott leaned on the counter by Janine’s desk. “Is Dad here?”

Janine grinned at the two leaning on her counter. Before she could say anything the Sheriff appeared in the doorway to his office.

“What are you guys doing here?”

“We couldn’t bring you dinner?”

“Not without celery and carrots attached” Stilinski said, a look of disgust crossing his face.

Scott grinned “Don’t worry, we got you a burger from Mae’s.”

Stilinski grinned back and wrapped an arm around Scott’s shoulder, making Rafael want to punch him. Especially when Stilinski said: “Have I told you lately that you’re my favorite son?”

An adorably confused look crossed Scott’s face “I’m you’re only son.”

Stiles tucked herself under Stilinski’s other arm with a matching grin as she patted Scott’s head “He could have said his favorite was Isaac, Scottie.”

Scott’s nose wrinkled up “If Isaac is anybody’s he’s yours and Peter’s. Stop trying to time share our parents.”

Stiles cracked up as the Sheriff rolled his eyes and steered the two teens into his office. Janine watched them go with a smile and a shake of the head before she turned back to her computer. In the doorway, Rafael watched through the blinds as Stiles, Scott and the Sheriff settled down in the office.

Scott had called Stilinski ‘Dad’.

When had that happened? The surprise gave way to a slow burning anger as he watched Stilinski open up the takeout box and try to fend off two sets of sneaking fingers aiming for his fries. That was his kid. His son. That man had no right to him, yet Scott was calling him ‘Dad’?

Rafael turned stubbornly back to his desk and sat down. Frakes was studiously avoiding eye contact with his irate partner.

It looked like he would need to have a conversation with Melissa about this. She needed to put an end to that before it got out of hand.

He nodded decisively.

 

\- - -

Inside the office, Jeorek dug into his burger with relish. Stiles never let him eat unhealthy foods, and rarely red meat. Now that he was in a relationship with a nurse, Stiles had found herself an ally in her continuing battle for his good health. Thank goodness for Scott and his willingness to fight for the right to indulge him periodically.

“So what’s up?” Jeorek asked as he defended his fries.

Scott and Stiles exchanged a speaking look, then Stiles said: “How’s the FBI thing going?”

“Fine. Why?”

Scott tried to dodge the Sheriff’s suspicion “Mom said he came to see her at the hospital on Monday.”

Jeorek nodded “He did. She told me he wanted to see you.”

“Well I don’t want to see him” Scott said, folding his arms.

“Hence the inquiry” Stiles offered. “We were hoping you’d say they were almost done and were leaving town.”

Jeorek sighed and leaned back “Nope. They’re determined to be thorough.”

None of them said anything about McCall trying to find reasons to stay. The idea didn’t sit well with any of them.

“You need to stop spending so much time with Peter” Scott decided after a beat of silence.

“Excuse you!” Stiles exclaimed. “I haven’t spent any more time with Peter then you have with Derek.”

Scott’s ears went red “You don’t use words like ‘hence’ Stiles.”

“He’s got a point, Jitterbug.”

“Maybe I’m doing PSAT prep? You never know!”

“Those aren’t until next year” Scott pointed out. “And I like to think you wouldn’t leave me out of that.”

Stiles had to admit he had her there.

Jeorek raised a hand “How about we don’t talk about _either_ of your boyfriends in front of the parent?”

Stiles grinned “We could talk about you and Mom.”

“Yeah!” Scott added. “We’re thinking a fall wedding would be nice.”

“Oh for crying out loud.” Jeorek sighed, slapping a hand over his face. He’d walked right into that one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a little glimpse into how life has changed without him for Agent McCall, leading up to a confrontation.
> 
> Peter and Derek finally close the chapter on the past and start the new one.
> 
> Sorry it's kinda blah guys. Today was really weird and I never want anything to do with windows ever again. Hopefully tomorrow's chapter will be a bit longer and progressive.
> 
> Big thanks to AvengingPhoenix, who helped me figure out how to end the chapter when I was stuck on where to go.


	35. Thirty-Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluffies! Fluffies all over the place!

**_Thirty-Five:_ **

_"They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for."_

_~ Tom Bodett ~_

Things seemed to settle over the next few days. Stiles was subjected to another mall trip, this one of her own making. Thankfully it was only an afternoon and evening instead of a full day. She accomplished her goal though. Erica walked away with a solid friend in Stiles, and two more potential ones in Lydia and Allison.

Alongside the new clothes they got for Erica, they spent a couple of hours in Lydia’s salon. Erica getting her hair trimmed and highlighted, Allison sat for a manicure and Lydia a pedicure after she wrestled Stiles into a chair for a trim of her own lengthening pixie cut. They used the time to discuss the upcoming Spring Formal and the fact that Stiles was the only one with a guy in her life.

Stiles protested, fairly certain that there was no way to get Peter anywhere near a high school dance.

Allison laughed in her face “All you have to do is tell him you want to dance with him and he’ll cave!”

“No he won’t” Stiles said, wondering what Peter Allison was talking about, because it obviously wasn’t hers.

Allison rolled her eyes “He loves you. A lot.”

Lydia interjected “Mention it around him. Don’t ask him to take you. Tell your Dad we’re all going together because none of us have dates.”

Huh. Stiles agreed and suddenly the four girls had a new mission. Dresses for the three girls who didn’t have them yet. If Lydia’s strategy worked, Peter would show up to dance with Stiles at least once, just because he’d be driven nuts at the thought of her in that dress at a dance without him.

Stiles liked to think she was more mature than that… but she was still a teenager, soon to be seventeen sure, but still a teenager.

Afterward Erica returned to Stiles’ with her to speak with Peter. She wanted the Bite, wanted to be a werewolf. If the last few days of consideration had thought to waver her, her afternoon glimpse into a world she could be a part of solidified her want. She wanted the strength and the power, sure, but she wanted friends. She wanted a family that was more than her resentful mother who was angry over her father’s insurance fraud and prison sentence.

Mostly she wanted to be _healthy_. She wanted to rule herself, instead of having her illness rule her.

They agreed to wait until the weekend. Erica came home with Stiles on Friday. Under strict instruction from their Alpha, the rest of the pack stayed away that night. Jeorek was working the night shift again, and Derek crawled in Scott’s window (he did that a lot). Isaac, Danny and Jackson went to a kegger and all three of them crashed at Danny’s.

Peter Bit Erica after dinner that night. The only ones there being the Alpha and the Pack Mom. Stiles and Peter curled around the newest member of their pack that night as the change took place.

By morning, one by one, each wolf snuck into the Stilinski house to crawl into Stiles’ bed like they had with Jackson. Derek brought a very grumpy Scott with him, the lonely human dragged his pillow into bed with him and curled up between Stiles and Isaac. He grumpily tucked his icy feet under Derek’s thigh out of spite and went back to sleep.

Melissa found them the next morning when she came looking for her missing son. It said a lot about her life, she thought, when she didn’t think much of her son not being in his bed in the morning. All she had to do was go to his other home and there he was, buried under a bunch of werewolves while Stiles drooled on his arm like she used to when they were little.

Melissa retreated downstairs and began the process of making a good, hearty breakfast for the horde of ravenous wolves slumbering upstairs (yes, she was including Scott in that). Bacon, sausage, hash browns, homemade waffles. She did half turkey and cut up some fruit to appease Stiles’ need to ensure her father’s good health. Melissa agreed with the girl, and Jeorek would eat his turkey bacon and be happy he got bacon at all.

Jeorek came in through the door just as the first strips of bacon came off the stove. He tiredly took off his gun belt and boots and wandered into the kitchen. He marveled for a few minutes at the tired, curly haired woman puttering around his kitchen in scrubs and bare feet. He watched her pull waffles off the iron for a few seconds before he slid up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Hey” Melissa said and grinned when he grunted in reply and buried his face in her hair. “Long night?”

“Isn’t it always?” Jeorek asked, reaching for the bacon.

Melissa slapped his hand with her spatula and he withdrew it “You have to wait for the next batch.”

“Evil woman” Jeorek muttered, pulling away to pour orange juice into glasses.

“You adore me” Melissa retorted. “Eat a waffle.”

Jeorek set a glass at her elbow and kissed her cheek in exchanged for the plate with waffles she handed him. It already had a reasonable amount of butter and syrup on it, taking his chance away and making him roll his eyes. He sat down at the counter to keep Melissa company as she turned sausages and bacon and poured waffles.

“So, we seem to have adopted a bunch of kids” Jeorek said.

“No, Stiles adopted a bunch of kids and we let her” Melissa replied. “You’re a glorified grandpa.”

Jeorek snorted around a mouthful of waffle “Thanks for that, grandma.”

Melissa offered him a beatific smile “You’re welcome.”

“There are seven werewolves and a teenage boy upstairs” Jeorek said. “They spend so much time here that their parents call me first when they can’t find their kids.”

Melissa nodded “Scott wasn’t in his bed when I got home from work, and I didn’t think it was weird at all when I turned around and came here.”

Jeorek scowled when Melissa set a small bowl of fruit in front of him, realizing that she would hold his bacon (turkey though it was) hostage until he ate the fruit. “Our kids are planning a fall wedding.”

Melissa raised her eyebrows at him “I’m not that surprised, Jeo. They want to be siblings on paper too.”

“Are we heading that way?” Jeorek asked seriously. “It took us a long time to get this far.”

“It did” Melissa nodded in agreement.

There was silence for a long moment. Jeorek picked at his fruit and the first thumps of waking werewolves began to sound upstairs as someone fell out of Stiles’ far too small bed. Melissa pulled the last of the bacon and sausage off the stove and poured the last of the waffle batter onto the iron.

“You didn’t answer me” Jeorek said quietly, clearing up his plate.

Melissa paused for a moment, not meeting his eyes “Are you asking me to marry you?”

Jeorek set his hands on her shoulders and turned her around, meeting her eyes seriously “Would it be weird if I was? We’ve only been together a couple of weeks.”

“Like you said, we’ve been heading this way for a long time.”

“Is that a yes?”

Melissa grinned at him “I suppose it is.”

They stood there gazing at each other stupidly until Scott and Stiles fell down the stairs with their usual grace, Danny following behind amused. As they filled their plates, Jeorek stole his share of bacon and a kiss from his now fiancee. Stiles and Scott shared a happy look as Jeorek headed for the stairs and his bed.

Isaac appeared, guiding Jackson down the stairs (his eyes were mostly closed). He ushered the other blond into a chair at the table and went to fill plates for them as Stiles ushered Melissa into a seat with a plate. The young woman took over the counter, letting the tired woman eat so that she too could go to bed.

Erica clattered down the stairs next. Hair wild and grinning happily, she crashed into the counter as the boys goggled at her. They were so used to Stiles’ morning light socket hairdo, that seeing Erica’s long blonde hair was new, but not strange. She elbowed Danny away from the fruit bowl in order to pile a bunch on top of her waffle.

“Seriously?” Danny grumped.

“Deal with it” Erica said brightly. She felt fantastic, better than she could ever remember.

“Someone _please_ turn her _off_ ” Jackson moaned into his folded arms.

Scott laughed around a mouthful of bacon as Peter and Derek finally came down the stairs. They had run the final patrol of the night. Derek was shirtless and scruffy. Peter was like a scud missile, aimed at the coffee pot.

“You love me” Erica said, then clammed up in surprise. She hadn’t meant to say that. Everyone laughed though, so it must have been okay.

Isaac plunked a plate down in front of Jackson with instructions for him to eat, then sat down to eat himself. Forks scraped at plates for a few minutes. The toaster popped and Stiles slid the fried egg she’d just cooked onto it. She handed the plate to Peter and he grunted a thank you. Derek was determinedly plowing through a giant stack of waffles with a stubborn look on his face.

When Peter finished his breakfast he caught Erica’s eye “We’ll spend today working on your control. The others will join us tomorrow.”

Erica nodded seriously. This was why they’d waited for the weekend, so that she would have two days of training with her new pack before going back to high school.

“Plates in the dishwasher” Stiles instructed as people began to finish eating. She glared at them, watching like a hawk as each of them loaded their plate and fork into the machine.

“C’mon guys, we’ve got practice” Danny said. He led the way as the four boys on the Lacrosse team filed out of the kitchen. Coach had started calling Saturday practices as soon as they made it to the finals. They’d be gone until well after lunch.

Derek grunted “I’m gonna go out to the house.” and then headed for the shower.

Erica watched curiously as Peter wrapped himself around Stiles, who was eating at the counter. Stiles leaned back into the Alpha’s frame and something new inside Erica curled up happily because seeing Peter and Stiles together was _right_. Right in the way Erica felt about peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

Stiles turned in Peter’s embrace and they leaned their foreheads together and they breathed the same air for a bit before Peter kissed her softly and she turned to do the dishes.

“Come on” Peter said to Erica, gesturing to the back door. “Let’s get started.”

Erica nodded and followed quickly. Stiles set to finishing up the dishes as Peter and Erica settled down on the porch to do breathing exercises. Upstairs her parents slept, heartbeats steady, and the shower went on.

Inside her chest, her wolf curled up, content.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I needed a happy chapter, okay? *shoves the fluffies and happy pack in your face* _Take them_.


	36. Thirty-Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Deaton tries his hand at being proactive. The Argents discuss the arrival of Gerard. An important choice is made.

  ** _Thirty-Six:_**

 

_“One ought, every day, to hear a song, read a fine poem, and, if possible, to speak a few reasonable words.”_

_~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~_

Alan Deaton rang the doorbell and tucked his hands into his pockets. The door was yanked open and eight year old Sasha stared up at him before screaming at the top of her lungs: “Uncle Alan’s here!”. Then she vanished into the depths of the house. Alan entered his sister’s house and followed common sense that said Noya Boyd would be in her kitchen.

The kitchen, like in many homes, was the center of the Boyd household. Damien Boyd, Noya’s husband, owned a construction company. He’d recently been hired by Max Thompson to rebuild the Hale House.

“Alan, you’re here early” Noya said as soon as he entered the kitchen.

“I needed to talk to you about something.”

His sister gazed at him for a second before her expression went grim. “No, Alan.”

“Noya -”

“No” Noya said, scowling. “He’s too young. It’s too dangerous.”

Of course she knew what this was about. You didn’t grow up in a long line of druids and not know. Alan sat himself down at the table and his sister plonked a cup of coffee down in front of him. She still had manners, even if she was unhappy about why he was there.

“The pack is young. I’m too old to be their Emissary, and Peter wouldn’t want me to be anyway.”

“Why the hell not?” Noya demanded.

“I was Talia’s Emissary, Noya.”

“So what! You’re a good Emissary, Alan.”

“It isn’t about that” Alan said. “It’s about the Hale’s starting over. I’m more of a reminder of everything that went badly now than anything else. Peter resents that. I won’t force it on him, or on Derek.”

Noya sighed. Damien was working with the new Hale Alpha to rebuild the family home. She knew enough about Peter through her husband’s observations to know that Alan was right. “Are you sure it has to be Vernon?”

“He’s got the talent, Noya” Alan said. “You’ve been teaching him the basics ever since he showed his talent. It’s a good basis to build from, he learns quickly. He’s patient, strong. He’d be good at it.”

“I don’t know, Al” Noya said uncertainly. Being an emissary was perilous, sometimes frightening. They’d learned a very valuable lesson from what had happened to Marin. “It’s an awful lot of responsibility.”

“Do you think he can handle it?” Alan asked.

“Of course he can” Noya retorted. “He can handle anything, but I’m his mother and I want him to be happy.”

“He wouldn’t be alone anymore. He’d have a _pack_ , Noy.”

Noya gazed at her little brother, then called “Vernon! Would you come here please?”

There was an acknowledging shout from upstairs and the two adults waited.

“Thank you” Alan said.

“You can talk to him about it” Noya said. “But if he doesn’t want to do it, you’ll let it go and find someone else.”

Alan nodded “Of course.”

 - - -

“I don’t want him spending time alone with Allison” Victoria said out of the blue as she watched her husband gear up for the days hunt.

Chris looked up at her briefly before going back to checking his gear. He and his men were helping the Sheriff’s department in the hunt for the ‘mountain lion’. It was Jeorek’s way of ensuring that the rogue would be taken care of properly while covering his (and his people’s) backside. The Sheriff was very quickly growing in Chris’ estimation.

“I’d rather he not spend any time with her at all” Chris replied. There was no love lost between Chris and his father. Chris stuck to the code and expected everyone who worked under him to do the same. Gerard had been known to play fast and loose with the code when it suited him. Like Kate.

“He’s going to be out for blood” Victoria said.

Chris nodded “I know. Hopefully taking out the rogue will be enough for him.”

“And if it isn’t?”

“If it isn’t he’s going to want to go after the Hales” Chris replied.

“We don’t have the kind of power necessary to circumvent him” Victoria reminded him. “If he decides to eradicate every werewolf in a hundred miles in retaliation.”

“I know.” Chris knew that Gerard was far too powerful for Chris to ever take head on. He had too many loyal followers, and if he asked, everyone that was under Kate’s banner would flock to his. “I’m hoping he’ll see sense since technically she was killed resisting arrest.”

“If he finds out the Sheriff is part of the local pack -”

“I know” he cut her off. “I’ll do my best to make sure he doesn’t find out.”

“It won’t take that much digging.”

Chris sighed, rubbing at his temples “Why don’t you take Allison to the range? Make sure her skills are sharp, and you can talk to her about it.”

“You mean warn her.”

Chris nodded “We can’t keep things from her, not anymore. We can’t risk it.”

Victoria knew it was true. If they started keeping secrets from their daughter after only just revealing the existence of werewolves and the duty as hunter, they would lose her. She could easily vanish into the world and ignore them the rest of her life, or she could fall into the hunting so far that she became another version of her Aunt. They couldn’t risk it; but that didn’t mean that Victoria had to like it.

“I know it isn’t ideal” Chris said, reaching over and taking his wife’s hand. “But we need to protect her the best we can.”

“And that means warning her about him.”

Chris nodded “She needs to be prepared, especially since she’s decided to stay friends with the Stilinski girl.”

Victoria nodded. Since the Sheriff was part of the pack, there was no chance that his daughter wasn’t as well. That meant that Allison crossed paths with the wolves at her school on a regular basis. “When does he get in?”

“This evening. He should be here for dinner” Chris said. “I don’t know what kind of contingent will be with him, if any.”

Victoria nodded “We’ll be ready. Be careful today.”

“I will.” Chris hefted his bag up onto his shoulder “Always am.”

“Good. If you leave me to deal with this alone, I’ll hire a necromancer to reanimate you so I can kill you myself” Victoria threatened.

Chris laughed and kissed his wife goodbye, then he was out the door.

\- - -

Boyd led the zamboni into a turn with far more concentration than it really needed. He was trying to lose himself in the rhythm of his job. Of the hum of the zamboni’s engine as he glided across the ice on its back. One of the teams for the local hockey league had just finished its practice and Boyd was getting the ice ready for the afternoon free skate.

He liked his job. Most of the time he was alone. Late at night when the rink was closed to the public was his favorite times, but he had come to appreciate the times between private sessions and public skating time as well. The routine and quiet of his job was almost like meditating on the go. It didn’t change. You drove a big machine (top speed of nine whole miles an hour) around, dragging water behind you as you resurfaced a big oval for people with sharp objects on their feet to slide around on.

Today he just couldn’t fall into the rhythm of it though. His Uncle’s visit had decided that.

Boyd had always known that he could be a shaman or a druid one day. He had the potential and the power. His mom had taken him aside when he was six and explained what was happening to him (while not normal, per say) wasn’t something he needed to be scared of. It had always been more likely that he would never be tapped as an Emissary though. He’d been prepared to spend the majority of his life trying to be zen.

Now here was his Uncle telling him that he needed him to be the Emissary to the local werewolf (!) pack. It was being rebuilt, young and strong, most of the members went to school with Boyd. Uncle Alan thought that a young pack deserved a young and adaptable Emissary.

Apparently Boyd was that Emissary.

It wasn’t like he didn’t have a choice in the matter. His Mom had been very clear on that point.

He’d been mulling it over for a few hours now. He wondered if he did this whether it meant that he wouldn’t have to eat lunch alone anymore. Apparently Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski were in the pack. He knew how close those two were. She went to almost every single practice just to cheer him on, even last year when he’d done nothing but ride the bench.

Boyd wondered what having that kind of friend was like.

He finished up on the ice and drove the zamboni back into its designated area. He’d noticed Stiles and Scott’s little group expanding the last few months. It now included Isaac, who Boyd actually liked, and Danny and Lydia. He didn’t really like Jackson that much, but he could probably learn to.

He sighed and leaned on the barrier and watched a group of elementary aged kids take to the ice, quite obviously buzzed on sugar if their screaming and the harried looks on the adults faces were any indication.

The possibility of friends that would be there the rest of his life was far too worth it to not attempt what his uncle was asking of him. If it worked out, Boyd would never be alone again, not really.

And he kind of liked that idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there you go. Grandpa crazypants is on his way to town, arrival imminent.  
> Enter Boyd stage right. With a twist. ^_^
> 
> Thank you to AvengingPhoenix, who helped me organize my thoughts for this one.


	37. Thirty-Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fight. An observation. The Spring Formal nears. Jeorek gives unsolicited advice.

**_Thirty-Seven:_ **

_“The best way of being kind to bears is not to be very close to them.”_

_~ Margaret Atwood, MaddAddam ~_

On Tuesday afternoon Melissa and Rafael got into a screaming fight. It was public (in the middle of the hospital lobby) and loud. It took Melissa by surprise because even at the end of their marriage they hadn’t really fought. Melissa had thrown herself into taking care of Scott. Into distracting him away from the inevitable knowledge that his father was choosing to pursue his career over staying with his family. Rafael had just shut down. His choice was made and that was that.

The day had started out just like any other. Melissa and Jeorek were on days that week. The kids all went to school. Peter and Derek headed out into the Preserve to begin their own search for the Alpha. They started where they had found Jackson and spiraled out from there. The Sheriff continued to lead a grid by grid search through the Preserve, an experienced hunter from Chris’ group attached to each team of deputies.

Then Gerard Argent entered the picture.

To say that he was upset about his daughter’s death was an understatement. He was furious. He came into town with a dozen of his own men and a goal. Kill everything and anything responsible for Kate’s death. He wouldn’t be satisfied until every supernatural creature within a hundred miles of Beacon Hills was ashes in the wind.

Chris tried to handle the situation with aplomb and no little amount of caution. He knew his father was flexible with the code. Where else could Kate have learned it? He also knew that the death of the Alpha wouldn’t sate Gerard’s bloodlust. He found himself cautiously trying to keep an eye on his father.

Victoria took on the task of sitting Allison down to talk to her about her grandfather. There was a reason why Allison had only ever met the man once. She had been too young at six months old to remember him, and Victoria found herself glad of it. Gerard was dangerous, angry, and he had always been unhappy about their choice to keep Allison out of the hunting. If he were to find out she knew, there would be no stopping him from taking her under his wing to show her the ropes.

Dinner on Saturday was a quiet, tense affair. Gerard gave Allison a case of the creeping horrors and she fled the house to spend the night with Lydia trying to forget the intensity of his stare.

Gerard was powerful. He could get away with anything, because he had money and the loyalty of his men. He also had the attitude of someone who answered to no one, which was also dangerous.

It was inevitable that he found out about the circumstances surrounding Kate’s death. What clinched it was finding out that the Sheriff’s Department still had a hold on the body and they couldn’t bury her yet.

Under his order one of his men took a shot at the Sheriff early Tuesday morning.

Which led to the fight between Melissa and Rafael.

Rafael had been left to stew and fume for too long after hearing his son call another man ‘Dad’. That that man was someone he disliked with the fiery intensity of a thousand suns just compounded the problem.

When Jeorek got shot, naturally the two FBI agents assigned to Beacon Hills went to look into it. Any cop getting shot was worth looking into. That Rafael wanted to glory in the Sheriff’s pain was just a bonus. So the pair went to the hospital to inquire after him.

Jeorek had been clipped in the shoulder, through and through. There was no significant damage, he was stitched up, prescribed some heavy duty antibiotics and some really good painkillers and told he would be living in a sling for the next six weeks. The same could not be said for the man that shot him though.

His deputes had taken exception to their boss being attacked. He was in surgery to get the two bullets in his gut and lower chest out. The K-9 that had been with them had taken a good chunk out of him too.

By the time the two agents got to the hospital, Jeorek was filling out his discharge paperwork. Frakes went off to find out what happened, and Rafael pulled Melissa aside.

“I need to talk to you.”

“Not now, okay?”

“When?” Rafael demanded. “You aren’t answering my phone calls. I still haven’t seen Scott. Did you even tell him I’m here.”

Melissa sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose “Yes, Scott knows you’re here. I told you he wouldn’t want to see you, Rafe.”

“Why haven’t you answered any of my calls?”

“I was on nights last week” Melissa said. “I was probably sleeping. The kids tend to turn off our phones when they feel we’ve been working too hard.”

“Kids?” Rafael demanded “Plural.”

“Yes, Rafe, plural. I have two children, Scott and Stiles.”

“Stiles isn’t yours.”

Melissa stared at him “A lot changed after you left, Rafe. Ten years is a long time.”

“Mel -”

“You know what, no” Melissa raised her hands in the air. “I’m not having this conversation with you. Now is not the time. I honestly don’t care why you’re really here. It’s been a long day, my fiance was just shot, and I’d like to take him home.”

“YOUR WHAT?”

That was when the screaming started. Jeorek finished his paperwork, wandered out into the sitting area where Melissa and Rafael were screaming at each other, and parked himself in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs to wait.

In the end Melissa slapped her ex-husband and he watched her guide a dopey Sheriff out of the hospital with a grim expression. They _were not_ getting married, not if he had anything to say about it.

\- - -

“Who’s that guy?”

“What guy?”

Erica wanted to point, but that would be too obvious and embarrassing, so she gestured with her chin instead “That guy with the camera.”

Stiles, Allison and Lydia all followed her gaze.

“I think he’s on the yearbook staff” Lydia offered, eyebrows pulling together.

“Aren’t the yearbooks coming out next week?” Allison asked.

Lydia nodded “Yeah, but the game is tomorrow night.”

“If he’s here to take pictures of the team, why does he keep staring at Allison?” Erica asked.

Stiles straightened up “What?”

Allison’s eyes widened and she turned to get a better look at the boy. Lydia was scrutinizing him now too, eyes narrowed.

“What do you mean he’s been staring at Allison?”

“He keeps looking over when he thinks nobody’s watching” Erica shrugged.

“Maybe he’s got a crush on her” Lydia said. “And he’s trying to get up the guts to ask her to the dance.”

“That’s next Friday” Stiles said. “Little late don’t you think?”

“It’s never too late to be asked on a date” Lydia replied primly.

“I don’t even know who he is” Allison protested.

Stiles shrugged “At least one of us might have a date.” She started collecting her things “I’m gonna head home. Papa’s on the strong painkillers.”

“I’ll come with you” Erica offered.

“You just want help with Finstock’s homework” Stiles accused.

Erica nodded shamelessly. Stiles rolled her eyes and the two girls headed down the bleachers and toward the parking lot. Allison and Lydia put their heads together to try to catch the boy in the act of ogling the dark haired girl.

\- - -

“I don’t understand how we haven’t found the rogue yet” Derek said, crossing his arms. “You’ve stolen three betas out from under it. We invaded the place where it was denning. It heard your Alpha roar that day with Kate.”

Peter nodded in acknowledgement of Derek’s complaint. He was pouring over a map of the Preserve, his fingers tracing over the various paths marked on it. “It is confusing” he agreed. “And irritating.”

“Do you think it left the Preserve?” Derek asked, joining his Uncle at the map.

“If it has it’s only a matter of time before another human is attacked” Peter replied. “We can’t have another new werewolf running around. Four plus Stiles is more than enough.”

Derek nodded in agreement. Stiles wasn’t really a new werewolf anymore. She wasn’t much older than Isaac, but she had taken to the wolf like a duck to water. Sometimes Derek forgot that she’d been bitten instead of born. The others all had a long way to go before they got to Stiles’ level. Isaac was closest, if only because he was very in tune with the emotions of the people (and his own) around him.

“What if it left town?” Derek asked.

Peter shook his head “It won’t. It took my roar as a challenge, and I stole three betas from it.”

“Right.”

Jeorek chose that moment to shuffle into the room. He’d been instructed to take the rest of the week off work, so he was in pajamas and carrying a cup coffee. “What’s goin’ on guys?”

“Trying to figure out the Alpha’s pattern” Derek offered.

Jeorek squinted at the map for a minute. It was covered in different colored lines and red dots. “That’s Stiles’ work, huh?”

Peter nodded as Jeorek flopped into a chair “Yes, it is.”

“You know, she once tried to tie a case together with a big roll of string. My office looked like a muppet exploded.” Jeorek looked fondly amused at the memory. Peter and Derek looked at each other, then back at the Sheriff.

“That’s nice” Derek offered. He sort of liked loopy Sheriff, he was softer around the edges and told stories about Stiles and Scott when they were little.

Jeorek nodded, then said “You know, you guys should really go to that dance at the school.”

“Uhm…”

Jeorek rolled his eyes and met Derek’s, then Peter’s; gaze surprisingly strong “Dancing with your significant other is one of those things you don’t pass up. Even if Scott is all elbows and Stiles believes the Sprinkler is still in style.”

“It’s a high school dance” Peter pointed out.

“So?” Jeorek demanded. “You took my daughter to La Rue, Peter. I guarantee you that every kid at that school knows she’s dating an older guy. As for Scott, well, suck it up and be a good boyfriend.”

“Aren’t you supposed to still be in bed?” Derek hinted, trying to avoid the conversation.

“Oh crap. What time is it?”

“Three forty.”

“Crap!” Jeorek stood up quickly, swayed for a second (Peter grabbed his elbow), and then headed for the stairs. Stiles would be home soon. She had said she wasn’t going to stay for all of practice. If she found him out of bed she’d tell Melissa. As scary as his daughter could be about his health, he wasn’t about to risk the wrath of a healthcare professional.

“I was never here!” he called back to the two Hales as he retreated.

“Of course not” Peter replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter wasn't what I was expecting. I had planned to do it differently, but I'm fairly happy with the way it turned out. It starts the set up for the end of the school year fairly well.
> 
> I'll give you a cookie if you can guess who's been creeping on Allison. Three guesses and the first two don't count.
> 
> Big thank you to my beloved beta, AvengingPhoenix.


	38. Thirty-Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steter decide it's time to deal with the Rogue once and for all. Jeorek, Scott and Stiles go ring shopping.

**_Thirty-Eight:_ **

_“When the elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.”_

_~ African Proverb ~_

Thursday morning Stiles tiptoed down the stairs, avoiding the creaks that she had learned the locations of over a lifetime. She slipped into the downstairs room that had once been her father’s office, but had since been converted into a bedroom for Peter. A few steps and the covers lifted all on their own. Stiles smiled and slid in next to the man, tucking herself into his side as he brought his arm (and the covers) down around her. Her cold toes tucked under his calves.

After a few moments of contentment within each other’s space, Stiles whispered: “Allison’s grandfather is in town.”

“I know” Peter said softly. “Derek and I saw him Tuesday.”

“He’s dangerous” Stiles said, tugging a little at Peter’s shirt. “We have to be careful.”

“The Alpha needs to be taken care of. I’m tired of cat and mouse.” Peter said, a bit of growl in his voice “We need a new strategy.”

Stiles pushed Peter onto his back and climbed over him, pinning him down, face to face. Peter’s hands went to her hips as their eyes locked. Silence reigned for a few moments before Stiles leaned down and rubbed their noses together. Peter snorted and a grin crossed his face.

“Victory!” Stiles commented.

“I’m calling a Pack Hunt tonight” Peter said, returning to the seriousness of the situation. “Hunters or no, we’re running the Preserve and we’re taking the rogue out.”

Stiles nodded “I’ll talk to Mom and Scott about setting up for any medical emergencies here.”

“I’ll stop by the station on my way to see Deaton” Peter said. “I don’t like it relying on him, but we may need him.”

Stiles nodded once, then decided that was that and let her arms give out. She landed on Peter’s chest, making him grunt. Grinning, she tucked her nose into Peter’s neck, taking in his scent. His arms wrapped tightly around her and he kissed the side of her head.

It was going to be a long day.

\- - -

“What are we doing?”

Jeorek rolled his eyes as he led his kids down the street. He was going to regret bringing them with him, he just knew it. “We’re doing a thing” he said. “Now go in the store, Scott.”

“Papa?” Stiles threaded her arm through Jeorek’s as they walked through the door, the bell above their heads jingling. “This is a jewelry store.”

“Yes, it is.”

Scott stopped walking and turned to look at the Sheriff, who froze in order to not crash into the teen. Stiles was yanked back by the abrupt stop with a grunt. Scott offered her a sheepish smile before turning back to Jeorek. “Are we buying a ring?” he asked suspiciously.

“Whatever gave you that idea?” Jeorek asked lightly.

Scott grinned maniacally “Really?!”

Stiles swung about and threw her arms around her father. Scott thudded into them in the next second. Jeorek tried to hide his own smile, but failed as the store manager appeared with an inquiring look on his face. Jeorek waved a hand at him.

“We talked about it” Jeorek told the two teenagers clinging to him. “We’ve agreed to let you keep planning for a fall wedding.”

“Yes!” Scott crowed, separating from the two Stilinskis in order to fist pump. “Does that mean I can change my name?”

“You want to change your name?” Stiles asked.

“Yeah!” Scott said, heading for the closest display case, dragging Stiles with him. “What, you don’t like Scott Stilinski?”

“Really?” Stiles asked, peering into the case critically.

Jeorek stepped forward and clapped his free hand (his other one was still in the sling) down on Scott’s shoulder. He turned him and guided him toward the case with the engagement rings in it. The store manager was already standing behind it, looking mildly amused now.

Scott looked nervously over his shoulder at Jeorek, biting his lip “Would that be a thing we could do?”

“Depends on what you’re asking me for, Bud” Jeorek replied, squeezing Scott’s shoulder in reassurance.

Scott looked down at the rings for a few minutes while different stones were pulled out and gazed at. Stiles and Melissa had the same ring size, so she insisted on trying them all on.

Jeorek stepped close to Scott and leaned down to speak in his ear “Are you asking me if I want to adopt you, Scott?”

Scott nodded hesitantly.

Jeorek looked over Scott’s bowed head and met Stiles’ eyes. She grinned with a wild nod, biting her lip so that she wouldn’t say anything. Jeorek bumped elbows with Scott and then yanked the boy into a hug “I’d be honored to adopt you and give you the name Stilinski, Scott.”

Scott wrapped his arms around the Sheriff “Thanks, Dad.”

Stiles whooped and jumped on them. They broke apart, laughing. The Sheriff cleared his throat “Now, let’s pick out a ring your Mom’ll love, okay?”

\- - -

“Can I help you?”

There was a man in a long black coat standing on the other side of the mountain ash counter. Boyd eyed him warily. He had come out of nowhere, face benign, blue eyes sharp and cunning.

“I’m here for the doctor” the man said mildly, offering what Boyd was sure was _supposed_ to be a reassuring smile.

“He’s in the back” Boyd said cautiously. “I’ll go get him.”

Boyd retreated into the rear of the clinic. When he found him, his uncle was doing an inventory of all the medicine they had on hand. He was carefully sifting through glass vials, checking expiration dates, and making notes on a clip board.

Boyd cleared his throat “There’s a werewolf out front looking for you, Uncle Alan.”

Alan Deaton looked up at Boyd, eyebrows raised in surprise “Really?”

Deaton put down his clipboard and led his nephew back out to the front. He was actually quite relieved to find that the werewolf standing at the clinic’s counter was a Hale, not someone he didn’t know.

“Alpha Hale” Deaton greeted. “To what do I owe this surprise?”

Boyd stared at the man who was apparently going to be his Alpha if his uncle had anything to do with it. Boyd was bigger than him, but underneath the calm, politely amused facade he was wearing was something ferocious. Boyd suddenly felt glad that that carefully penned in power wasn’t aimed at him.

“Emissary” Hale said with a nod. “As Alpha of the Hale Pack I am formally requesting your aid tonight, as we have no Emissary of our own.”

It was said formally, precisely. Deaton straightened and Boyd suddenly knew that he was about to be thrown headfirst (whether he was prepared or not) into being an Emissary.

“For what purpose?” Deaton asked.

“A Pack Hunt” said the Alpha. “We are sweeping the Preserve clean of the Rogue tonight.”

“Even with the hunters?”

Peter nodded “It can’t wait any more. I can’t take on any more newly turned wolves.”

That meant that if the rogue Alpha bit anyone else, Alpha Hale would be forced to let the hunters deal with it, meaning death for whoever had been attacked. Boyd cleared his throat, deciding to step up before Deaton could volunteer him. Hale’s eyes snapped to him, burning ruby.

“Alpha Hale, my name is Vernon Boyd” here he swallowed nervously. “I’m apprenticed to Dr. Deaton as a future Emissary. I’d like to volunteer my services.”

Those red eyes studied him. Boyd tried to maintain the eye contact, but had to look away. To the side, his uncle looked proud of him.

Hale turned back to Deaton “You’ve been training him for the Hale Pack?”

Deaton nodded “He’s still got a few years of training left to go, but he learns quickly. He goes to school with your pack. He’s on the Lacrosse team with the boys. He’s patient, calm. I think he would be a good fit. A young, quick, powerful Emissary for a strong young Pack.”

Hale turned back to Boyd. He took it as his cue to come out from behind the mountain ash barrier. Face to face, Boyd was taller, but Peter Hale filled the entire room.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” Peter asked him.

Boyd swallowed, then nodded “Yes. I’ve had a while to think about it. I’m sure.”

Peter nodded and took his hand, clasping forearms with him. Deaton stepped forward and spoke a few formal words over them, passing on his link as Hale Emissary to Boyd. The physical connection with Peter took that mantle and helped to tie it to him as the Alpha. Something seemed to flow through Deaton into Boyd, into Peter and then back into Boyd.

Afterward Alpha and Emissary left the clinic together.

It would be a long night in Beacon Hills… and the first true test of the Hale Pack as a whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted this chap to have more action in it, but then Boyd wanted to be in it so I had to set that up.  
> Sorry about the semi-cliffhanger. It wasn't intentional.
> 
> Coming soon: A three way fight between the Pack, the Rogue and the Hunters.
> 
> Thank you to my beta AvengingPhoenix, who encourages and lovingly tells me when something's weird.


	39. Thirty-Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hale Pack goes a-hunting.

**_Thirty-Nine:_ **

_“A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle.”_

_~ Japanese Proverb ~_

There were seven wolves standing in a staggered line along the edge of the trees. Ten yards between each wolf as they stood ready to pace their way into the treeline. Behind them, prepared and ready to help were the four human members of the the pack.

Melissa ready and waiting to provide medical aid, Scott sat in the driver’s seat of Stiles’ jeep, prepared to play ambulance driver. Between the jeep and makeshift aid station and the wolves was the Sheriff. He was armed for anything, a kevlar vest strapped over his chest just in case of hunters. He was set to guard Boyd, the newest member of the pack.

Boyd stood stoic next to the Sheriff, hiding both his nervousness and his surprise behind a stone mask. He was as prepped as he could be. Armed with mountain ash and wolfsbane (and a few other tricks). The Sheriff was to guide him into the Preserve behind the sweep of wolves.

The pack was huge, much bigger than Boyd had thought from what Deaton had told him. The Stilinskis and the McCalls were a surprise. Three of them human, but Stiles stood directly to Peter’s right, wolf face on and golden eyes watching the treeline. Stiles’ involvement explained the presence of the other three. She and Scott had always been inseparable. The other wolves deferred to her, so she was obviously highly ranked in the pack. Boyd would have to watch the dynamics of the wolves very carefully.

He felt under prepared, and was suddenly wishing that his uncle didn’t like to be so mysterious. The man probably thought it was funny to throw Boyd into all of this without any floaties.

Derek stood to Peter’s left, everything in his stance and bearing said Second in Command. He was Peter’s enforcer and head Beta. Leather jacket and electric blue wolf eyes giving him an intimidating, sinister aire. Those eyes told Boyd a story he didn’t like.

Isaac Lahey, Jackson Whittemore and Danny Mahealani. Two whom Boyd had known about, their attack had been quite public. The first Boyd had been watching ever since his uncle drew him into all of this. He’d suspected and now it was confirmed.

His eyes cut to the wolf with the long blonde hair. Erica Reyes. She looked ferocious, beta gold eyes flashing as she shifted from foot to foot. She was a surprise. Boyd had always noticed the quiet girl who sat in the back of a couple of his classes. He had never expected to see her attached to anything even remotely supernatural.

There was a ripping sound and Boyd’s eyes went to Peter, and he tensed. Where once the Alpha had stood was a massive black wolf. The biggest, scariest looking wolf Boyd had ever seen. Ruby eyes flashed over each member of the pack, lip pulling back over his teeth as a snarl overtook his face, revealing huge fangs.

The Alpha threw back his head and _howled_.

\- - -

There were no police officers in the woods that night. Chris had thought it strange at first, but then the howl had risen up and rang through the air. All the little hairs on his arms had stood on end as a series of howls answered the first. He knew that sound. That was the sound of an Alpha rallying his pack, and his pack answering.

They were too deep into the woods to do anything but try to get out of the way. The Hale Pack was on the hunt, and they wouldn’t stop until they had caught their prey.

Chris saw it the moment his father realized what was going in. Gerard had turned accusing eyes on his only son, and Chris had looked back grimly. Gerard shook his head and ordered his men to prepare for multiple targets. He wanted revenge, and he wouldn’t be satisfied until he had. Every wolf in Beacon Hills would die.

Chris watched as his father and his men made their way to where they were fairly certain the rogue Alpha was denning. He had fewer men at his back. Chris’ camp was only four or five men, all of them with the same morals and determination to follow both the letter and the spirit of the code.

Each one of them nodded in response to his questioning look, and the smaller group of hunters followed after Gerard. All they could hope for tonight was to contain as much of the damage as they could.

\- - -

Running through the Preserve with her pack at her side was usually a joyful occasion. Not tonight. As she darted between trees Stiles kept an ear and an eye out for her packmates. Her nose followed their criss-crossing scents as the pack systematically ran through the Preserve in order  to flush out the rogue.

It was Danny that found the Alpha first. His howl rent through the trees, part warning and part alarm. Stiles wheeled about, changing course abruptly to converge on Danny’s scent. She knew that the rest of the pack would have done the same.

She increased her speed, dropping to all fours to get the traction she needed to leap through the air over any obstacles in her way. She crashed into the clearing at the same time as Derek. Danny was slumped against a tree. The bark was broken up, and by Danny’s prone position on the ground it was obvious that the beta had been flung into the tree with extreme force. The menacing and monstrous form of a crazed Alpha was advancing on the whimpering beta.

Derek howled and flung himself at the Alpha, throwing all his weight behind dragging the beast away from Danny. Stiles threw herself into a baseball slide beneath the Alpha when it leapt for Derek. She raked her claws along its belly as she past. Then she was on the other side of the clearing and crouching protectively over the wounded beta.

Derek took a heavy blow to the head and crashed to the ground just as Erica burst into the clearing. She howled in fury (still too new to being a wolf to have the best control. She had yet to experience a full moon) and pounced on the Alpha’s back. It roared as both her claws and her teeth dug into the meat of its sides. Rearing back to dislodge the she wolf.

Peter came roaring into the clearing just as Isaac crashed down an incline and ended up in a thorny bush just to Stiles’ left. Peter was magnificent. Huge and black and absolutely beautiful. He had once looked like the thing he was roaring a challenge at, but no longer.

He was stable. With a strong, young pack and a future mate. His wolf form reflected that now.

The two Alphas crashed together in a tangle of claws and fangs and fur. Snarling at each other and jaws snapped at necks and limbs. Derek threw himself into the fray again, going for the Alpha’s flanks simultaneously with Jackson as the Lacrosse star came out of the trees, howling in fury.

Isaac pulled himself out of the bush with a growl and turned to throw himself into the fight, but stopped as soon as he saw Stiles. Stiles was still crouched over Danny, who had lost consciousness and was just now starting to come too. Her eyes weren’t on the battling wolves in the center of the clearing.

She was watching the treeline, eyes riveted.

Isaac followed her gaze and snarled. There were hunters out there. He met her gaze and she nodded to Danny and Isaac took her place guarding the other beta as he recovered. Stiles melted back into the trees.

\- - -

Jeorek and Boyd made it to the clearing just as Stiles was backing away. She looked to her father and the new Emissary and said “Boyd, Danny’s down, help Isaac. Papa, this way.”

Boyd watched her lead Jeorek into the brush before he went to Isaac and Danny. He hauled Danny into a sitting position against the tree and set a mountain ash circle around himself and the beta and Isaac took that as his cue to spin around toward the action, eyes glowing, snarling.

He flung himself into the fray.

Jeorek and Stiles made their way around the edge of the clearing. Stiles was strung tight like a bowstring. Jeorek could tell that she wanted to be in there with the other wolves, but he also knew that she knew this was where she needed to be.

Jeorek set his shotgun into his shoulder and nodded at his daughter, who was no longer wolfed out. The Sheriff stepped out from behind the tree he’d concealed himself behind at the same time as his daughter did.

“Evening gents” Jeorek said conversationally, as if he wasn’t pointing a shotgun at a man’s head.

Several of the hunters turned in surprise. Chris and Gerard were among them. Chris raised a hand, trying to keep the peace, but Jeorek shook his head “This is pack business Mr. Argent.”

“Oh, I think it’s obvious what this is” Gerard said, voice thick with disgust.

Jeorek raised an eyebrow “And what’s that?”

“Monsters being monsters” Gerard said grimly. “We’ll deal with whatever’s left when the fight is over.”

“You think you’re within your rights to kill people who have never harmed anyone?” Jeorek demanded, his grip tightening.

“They stopped being people the moment they were bitten” Gerard snarled.

Stiles rumbled a menacing growl, making Chris start and stare at her. He had never even suspected that the Sheriff’s daughter was a werewolf. He shook his head rapidly at her, but she was done trying to be cooperative.

“If you guys were doing your job, it would have never come to this, Hunter” Stiles said, stepping forward, eyes glowing.

Gerard and several of his men raised their guns and pointed them at her. Jeorek chambered a round into his rifle in response “I’ll thank you not to point your weapons at my kid, thanks.”

Gerard opened his mouth to reply, but no one heard what he had to say. The rogue Alpha crashed through the trees right at that moment, thrown by Peter. It landed, snarling, and went for the nearest person. The young man (one of Chris’) backpedaled, dropping his gun in shock at being faced with a feral Alpha.

Stiles leapt forward, tackling the Alpha out of its’ intended path, and rolled neatly away to crouch in front of him. She was fully wolfed out now, snarling as Isaac and Jackson crashed through the brush to attack the Alpha. Derek appeared at Stiles’ elbow, crouched and roaring.

Peter did not appear, which told Stiles that her Alpha and future mate was wounded. She howled at this knowledge just as Jeorek and Chris started firing. Round after round was fired at the rogue. Some of the other hunters joined in as the Alpha roared in pain and turned to attack them.

Erica appeared with Boyd’s arm slung over her shoulders as she half-carried the much bigger teen. Boyd had a glorious bruise blooming on the side of his face and a few slash marks on his arm. He was fumbling in his pockets for something.

Isaac howled in pain and went down, clawing at his side, trying to get the bullet out. He would never know if it was a stray, or if he’d been shot on purpose. Stiles threw herself forward to pull Isaac out of the fray.

Derek charged the Alpha, leaping at it with outstretched claws. Jackson performed a beautiful rugby tackle on one of Gerard’s men when he swung his weapon around to aim at the Sheriff. They crashed to the ground, all the air leaving both of them.

Peter appeared, great rents torn down one of his sides. He ran right into the fray, snarling. He managed to lock his jaws around the Alpha’s neck and pin it to the ground. It had enough bullets in it (wolfsbane and not) to affect its’ ability to move. Derek joined Peter in pinning the rogue down. It struggled, snarling and frothing at the mouth.

Chris strode forward, pulled back the hammer on his .45, aimed, and fired.

The Alpha slumped to the ground, all fight gone. A neat hole right between its eyes.

The area fell silent. Danny reached Boyd and Erica, slinging Boyd’s other arm over his shoulder. Hunters and wolves stared at each other. Gerard’s men were still aiming their weapons at the seven werewolves in the clearing. The big black Alpha stood and turned to face Gerard. Derek, Isaac, Jackson and Stiles arranged themselves around their Alpha, ready.

Chris stood next to the rogue’s corpse, desperately trying to think of a way to stop his father from slaughtering a group of young people, none of whom had ever killed anyone.

It was the Sheriff who spoke.

“Any of you fire your weapon, and I’ll throw you in jail for murder so fast your head’ll spin for the next twenty years.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there you go. The Alpha is a dead Alpha. Boyd's got a concussion. The Sheriff is bamf.
> 
> Hope you guys liked it!
> 
> Thank you to AvengingPhoenix who is the best beta.


	40. Forty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life moves on the wake of the Alpha's death.

 

 

**_Forty:_ **

_“Happiness is a tide: it carries you only a little way at a time, but you have covered a vast space before you know you are moving at all.”_

_~ Mary Adams ~_

The Sheriff of Beacon Hills is a formidable opponent. _Especially_ where his only child was concerned. He took exception to weapons being pointed at Stiles. It was only Chris’ interference that kept his father out of jail. As it was, the grand majority of Gerard’s men were promptly arrested by the Sheriff (and several deputies that chose to ignore the corpse of the, by then, burning rogue) and charged with assault, child endangerment,carrying weapons without a license (one or two of them _had_ their permit, but not a concealed carry permit) and anything else he could think of.

This put the Argent Patriarch’s muscle out of the running for now. It did not count the old man out though. He was furious. Enraged that his son had defended a bunch of werewolves. That the cop that had shot his daughter was _part_ of the local pack. The fact that he stood with them made him just as bad as the wolves themselves.

No, Gerard wasn’t going anywhere until every last werewolf and werewolf sympathiser was dead, their ashes blowing away in the wind.

It worried Chris. First his sister had turned out to be a psychotic murderer, and now his father was showing the same signs. He wondered for a couple of days if Gerard was the reason why Kate had been like she was. Realized after a long brooding evening in his office that he didn’t really _care_. The next day (after a very hard conversation with his wife) he decided to be proactive.

Chris sat his daughter down and very firmly explained the Code to her. Explained the literal meaning, as well as the spirit of it. He explained that as far as he was concerned, so long as they weren’t hurting anyone, werewolves deserved to live in peace. Just like anyone else. Allison explained the evening she had spent at the Stilinski’s house observing the pack. She didn’t see any evil in them.

The two of them agreed that the Hale Pack deserved to be left alone.

While Chris was an expert in all forms of firearms, Victoria was the better archer. She took it upon herself to take Allison out that weekend and help her hone her skills. Hunting, tracking, shooting. Victoria knew that they were at the edge of what could be a very dangerous and damaging war between hunters and wolves. Her daughter would be prepared.

Even if being prepared meant that one day Allison might use her skills to _defend_ a werewolf.

 

 

\- - -

Wounds inflicted by an Alpha take longer to heal than most. It laid up the pack through all of Friday, leaving most of them to go through school on autopilot. Peter slept off the wounds he’d received, and by Friday morning was fine.

Scott had told all and sundry that he never wanted to see that much blood ever again, then (using a move learned from his mother) had boxed Derek’s ears when he had the gall to laugh at his reaction. Derek retreated to the Hale House, where the new frame was starting to be put up.

By Saturday morning Stiles and Scott were in cahoots, and pulling the others in along for the ride. Stiles spent the afternoon in a store with Lydia, Erica and Allison trying to find the perfect dress and shoes for Melissa to wear on the date she didn’t know she was going on. They spent the whole time debating over where to get reservations for.

Erica won the fight when she finally put her two cents in by stating how Melissa had told her she loved La Rue, and hadn’t been in years. That clinched it, and Lydia called the owner, who was good friends with her mother. They eventually settled on an elegant, understated black dress that was nice for a fancy evening, but not formal enough to be out of place at La Rue.

Scott dragged Isaac out of the house, Stiles’ keys clutched in his hand. They got halfway to the florist before he turned the vehicle around and drove halfway across town to knock on Boyd’s door. Scott had remembered that Boyd had five younger sisters and most likely would know what kind of flowers to get.

Boyd let himself be dragged out of the house in bewilderment. It took him up until they were walking into the florist to ask Scott what he expected him to do. Just get his mother’s favorite flowers. He did know what those were? Yes. Well, there you go then.

Scott left clutching a big bouquet of stargazer lilies (Melissa’s favorite). They ate burgers for lunch and then went to the cleaners to pick up Jeorek’s only suit. It was charcoal grey, still crisp for hardly ever being worn. Then they stopped at a Men’s Warehouse with the little note Lydia had shoved into Isaac’s hand when she picked up Erica and Stiles. They came out with a new, pale blue shirt and a nice gray, green and blue paisley tie.

Then they went back to the Stilinski house to drop off the suit and ended up crashed out in the living room playing Halo and Call of Duty. Boyd ended up blowing off his lesson with his uncle, who would be spitting mad, but Boyd decided he didn’t care. He was enjoying feeling like he had real friends to give it more than a passing thought.

Stiles called her father and told him that he was taking Melissa out tonight. Yes, he was proposing, thank you. When Jeorek complained that Melissa had already said yes, Lydia had stolen Stiles’ phone and patiently explained to him that Melissa deserved romance. He was taking her to La Rue, he was going to wear a suit. He didn’t have to get down on one knee, but he was going to take the ring his children had helped him pick out and propose properly.

Jeorek had said ‘Yes, ma’am’ and left it at that.

Melissa came home to four girls in her house (only one of which she really considered hers). She was shuttled into the shower, then into the dress they’d picked out. She’d been helped with her hair and her makeup. Erica had painted her nails a pretty, shimmery pale pink.

The girls ordered pizza and hung around talking while they waited for Jeorek to arrive. Melissa would have been fine just joining in on what was quickly becoming a girls night. Lydia complained about how Jackson was an idiot and she was glad they’d broken up. They all whined about Stiles and Peter and how gooey and perfect they apparently were.

Erica confessed to a crush on Boyd that she’d harbored for years, and what would they think if she asked him out? A rousing round of ‘go for it’s rang around the room. Allison complained about how the only boy she was even interested in was now in a sickeningly sweet relationship, and where did that leave her?

Jeorek arrived and marveled over how nice Melissa looked. Melissa gushed over the flowers and put them in a vase. He warned the girls to call their parents if they were all staying at the McCall house that night. He told Stiles that there was a Halo Tournament going on in their living room and Stiles claimed that she’d just steal Scott’s bed. The girls ushered the adults out of the house, Lydia put in _The Notebook_ (sue her, it was a good movie, ok?) and everyone called their parents.

At the end of the night it was official. Melissa McCall was marrying Jeorek Stilinski and she had the ring to prove it.

 

 

\- - -

Wednesday was Stiles’ seventeenth birthday. It started like all the others. Jeorek made her banana pancakes with caramel syrup and let her eat it in bed (she did the same for him on his birthday). Scott showed up at the door really early and crashed up the stairs and into Stiles’ room just as she was setting the tray aside. Scott landed beside her in the bed crowing a bawdy version of Happy Birthday.

Derek and Isaac decided to join him. Stiles was not impressed.

At school balloons arrived to each of her classes in twos and threes until she was toting seventeen of them around with her by lunch*. It was both fun and humiliating. None of her friends would claim the credit, which told her they’d all probably pitched in.

It was kind of nice when she found herself up on the overlook with Peter late that night after a nice dinner at a local italian place. Her heels were still in the car, and she’d pulled the sparkly clip out of her hair.

“Happy Birthday” Peter murmured to her, watching her watch the lights of Beacon Hills.

“Thank you” she replied. She turned her body to face him and smiled at him. He smiled back and tipped their foreheads together. “Is it weird that this is the best part of today?”

“No” Peter told her. “It’s not.”

She sighed and turned back to the lights, looking up at the moon. It was almost full. It would be on the night of the dance. Stiles’ laced their fingers together and settled into Peter’s chest. They always seemed to end up out here after big things happened.

“We’re gonna be okay, right?”

“We’re going to be fine.”

“Even with Gerard?”

Peter sighed and his grip on her tightened. He had liked having guns pointed at her about as much as her father had. “I’m hoping that Chris will be able to contain him.”

“You don’t believe that will work” Stiles stated. She knew him too well by now to believe a word of that as anything more than false hope.

“No, I don’t. Gerard won’t stop until we’re dead or he is.”

“We’ll deal” Stiles said. “I have plans, and none of them involve dying.”

“What do they involve?”

“Graduating. College” Stiles grinned. “You and me. Possibly a family.”

“A family?” Peter asked softly.

Stiles turned and swung around so that she could hold his chin in her hands “Maybe it’s the wolf in me, but I think about it sometimes.”

“How many?”

“Oh, more than one, less than six” Stiles said teasingly. “I’m willing to negotiate.”

“Cubs” Peter breathed. He wasn’t really the type to really think about kids. Before the fire he’d been concentrating on school and getting a rise out of Derek and his sister. But as a wolf he was family oriented. His loyalty and love for his family was why he’d been so devastated by the fire. The loss of those bonds would have (had) driven any werewolf to insanity.

Stiles rubbed their noses together with a playful grin “Cubs… but not for a while yet.”

“Deal” Peter said instantly. It was nice to have it reaffirmed that Stiles was just as invested in this as he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *My high school did this. You could buy balloons for whoever at the school store and have them delivered during whatever class you wanted. My sister did this exact thing on my sixteenth birthday. I had balloons arrive in twos and threes in ever single class I had that day and had to walk home from school like that. It was amazing and made me feel loved, but highly embarrassing.
> 
> I have been informed a couple of times that apparently Jeorek isn't a proper Polish name. I bow before those with a better knowledge of the language, as I know nothing about it. I found it on babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com - Yes, I troll around on baby naming websites for character name ideas. Don't judge. Anyway, I've decided to keep Jeorek as the Sheriff's name. Two reasons: 1 I've grown kind of attached to it. 2 I am just over 66,000 words into this fic and it would be _a lot_ of work to to go back and change it now.
> 
> I hope that this doesn't offend anyone.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter. It was mostly narrative, but I felt the need to push the story along a bit, because I had originally planned for Gerard to arrive later after the dance. It turned out a bit more introspective than I originally had planned. Hopefully ya'll will still enjoy it. I promise more fun fluffies and pack feels soon.


	41. Forty-One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dance is finally here. Derek and Peter are total sweethearts.

**_Forty-One:_ **

_“Dance when you’re broken open. Dance if you’ve torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you’re perfectly free.”_

_~ Rumi ~_

“I know there’s something going on.”

Stiles looked up from where she was pulling the little rollers out of her hair. Her eyes met Lydia’s in the mirror. “I know you do” she said, then went back to the curlers. Her hair was long enough now that wild curls around her face wasn’t an impossibility.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Lydia asked, weaving a braid through her own stylishly curled hair.

“I was waiting for you to decide if you really wanted to know” Stiles replied, picking up the hairspray. “You and I both know that once you know, life won’t ever be the same.”

Lydia nodded, pinning the braid into place with sparkling pins “I know. I’ve decided.”

Stiles set down the hairspray and spun for approval. Lydia rearranged a few curls and nodded. Allison entered Lydia’s big bathroom then, her own hair up in an elegant twist. Stiles sat down on the toilet so that Allison could work on her makeup. None of the other girls trusted Stiles with it, especially tonight.

“I’m a werewolf.”

Allison paused in surprise, then went back to applying the blush in her hands without a word. Lydia snorted, waving around the mascara wand in her hand “Seriously?”

Erica entered the bathroom then, her own blonde hair up in curlers much bigger than the ones Stiles had used. She flashed golden eyes and fangs at lydia in the mirror as she casually began to take the curlers out. Her makeup was already done, gray and smoky around her eyes. She was wearing a sparkly red dress to the dance tonight.

She was also abandoning them for Boyd. She’d screwed up the courage and asked him to go with her yesterday at lunch.

Lydia flinched at Erica’s casual manner and then turned to Stiles, who obliged (despite Allison’s protest) and turned for her. She wrinkled her nose in disgust “That’s completely gross. What’s with the sideburns?”

“You should see the boys’!” Erica said cheerfully. “Jackson’s are glorious!”

Lydia laughed at that “I believe it… So are all of you werewolves?”

Stiles shook her head. Allison gripped her chin roughly and glared at her “Stay still. No. My parents are werewolf hunters. I’m a hunter trained teenage girl.”

“Scott’s human” Stiles offered.

“And Boyd?” Lydia demanded. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed him around the last couple days.”

“He’s an Emissary.”

Lydia stopped, jammed the mascara wand back into the tube and whirled to give her patented glare of doom to Stiles “What the hell is an Emissary?”

“He’s basically like a magic advisor to werewolves” Stiles shrugged.

“You know I’m freaking out right now, right?” Lydia said crossly as she picked up her earrings.

“I know” Stiles said, she could smell the disbelieving panic coming off the redhead. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

“I know you will” Lydia replied. Her spine straightened. She turned her head side to side to admire her features. “Let’s go to a dance first, ok?”

“Okay.” Stiles replied with a smile.

\- - -

Stiles tried to have a good time at the dance. Honestly she did. It just ended up lacking somehow. When she, Lydia and Allison arrived they made a great impact. Two of the prettiest girls in school arriving at school with Stiles? Wow. No one had expected Stiles to clean up like she did. But she was radiant next to the other two girls.

Even if she seemed kind of sad.

Erica and Boyd arrived together. His tie was a red that matched Erica’s dress exactly, and Stiles knew that Lydia had something to do with it. Danny arrived with a boy he’d been seeing off and on all year. Stiles liked him just about as much as Jackson did - meaning, not at all. Scott and Isaac arrived together.

Scott was in the same boat that Stiles was. His significant other was older. So they danced with each other through several songs. Scott passed Stiles off to Isaac and asked Lydia and then Allison to dance. Stiles went from Isaac to Danny (despite his date’s glaring) to Jackson. The boys all danced with Lydia and Allison, even Erica. Stiles spent one song being twirled around the floor balanced on the toes of Boyd’s boots.

Jackson and Lydia even danced despite their bad breakup. He spent the entire song leaning away from her while she chewed him out about werewolves and his feelings. No one felt the need to interfere, and even if they had, they knew better than to get into Lydia’s way.

Then Derek arrived.

He arrived in a blue collared shirt and a leather jacket in all his dark, mysterious, scruffy glory. He weaved through the crowd (which parted, staring) toward where Scott was dancing with Stiles. He approached with a sheepish little tilt to his lips and asked to cut in. Stiles nodded and Derek kissed her on the cheek and she headed for the table the group had claimed as theirs. Derek swept Scott into a dance.

He would find himself the talk of the school for the last few weeks until summer.

It was nice to see that Derek was letting the pain of the past go and stepping toward the future. Stiles sat down in a chair and took off a shoe to rub at one aching foot. If she’d been asked she’d have easily said that Derek wouldn’t have been seen within twenty miles of a school dance… But that was the persona Derek put out to the world. The last couple of months living in the same house as him had shown her that he was just a cuddly puppy on the inside. Especially when it came to Scott.

Stiles gazed around the room and the wolf inside her felt content. All her boys were here and happy, and her singular she wolf was spinning around in the arms of what promised to be an extraordinary Emissary. Lydia knew now, and she was dancing with Allison, who looked to be a promising ally for the pack.

She grinned a bit, her father was marrying a woman Stiles adored. Scott would be her brother, and while Melissa would never replace Claudia Stilinski in Stiles’ heart, Stiles felt she had room for two moms.

Stiles put her shoe back on and stood, heading for the door to the gym. She needed a little air. She wove her way through the crowd, smiling when she passed Jackson who was frowning down at the flask he was holding. It looked like he’d be putting the alcohol tolerance of werewolves to the test tonight.

She stepped outside and wrapped her arms around herself, tipping her head back to look at the full moon. Nights like this usually meant that the pack would be running through the Preserve, free and answering the moon’s call. Not tonight. Tonight they were dancing. They would run later, in the twee hours of the morning. It was Erica’s first full moon, and despite her extraordinary control, she would need to run free tonight.

The corners of Stiles’ mouth dipped down as she thought about Peter. She didn’t like that he was essentially alone tonight. Melissa was on nights this week, and the Sheriff was dealing with the two FBI agents sniffing around his department while he finished up the clean up over the end of the rogue Alpha.

Stiles didn’t like the thought of Peter alone. She wanted him to be here with her, but she hadn’t dared ask. If Derek wasn’t likely to go to a high school dance, Peter was even less inclined. He was ten years older than her, she accepted that. It didn’t mean it wasn’t disappointing though.

For a few minutes Stiles considered heading back inside, then shrugged and leaned against the railing on the stairs. No one would really miss her; anyone that did would know how to find her. Music spilled out of the gym, and Stiles wondered how long she would need to stay before she could sneak off home to spend the rest of the evening until the run with her Alpha.

A hand landed on her shoulder and she jumped. Her new wolfy instincts had her claws out as she spun to see the intruder. Her claws vanished and she realized just why none of her super senses had alerted her to someone’s approach.

Peter stood before her, head tilted to one side. White collared shirt under a charcoal gray suit jacket. This was the last person in the world who posed a threat to Stiles’ safety, she had unconsciously known that, and so his approach had not rung any warning bells.

“You’re here” Stiles said.

“I’m here” Peter nodded.

“I didn’t really think -”

“It’s not really” Peter shrugged, then his patented smirk crossed his face. “But you wanted me to come.”

Stiles blushed and she glanced away “Well, yeah. What girl _doesn’t_ want her boyfriend to dance with her?”

“None that I know of” Peter said. He stepped forward and set his hands on her elbows, drawing her forward. He took one of her hands in his and the other fell to her waist. Her free hand settled on his shoulder and suddenly they were standing in a classical dance position.

“Thank you” Stiles said softly as the music coming from inside changed and got slower.

Peter turned them in a circle, dancing “You’re welcome.”

Stiles set her head on his shoulder, eyes closing to fully enjoy the moment. Peter leaned down to whisper into her ear: “Don’t expect me to go inside that monstrosity of a gym though.”

Stiles couldn’t help it, she laughed.

\- - -

Inside the gym, a boy with dark hair and icy blue eyes circled around the edge of the dance floor. He had a camera clutched in his hands. Everyone thought he was with the yearbook, but he’d only taken pictures of one person all night.

Allison Argent was the most beautiful thing that Matt Daehler had ever seen.

He focused his lens on her smiling face as she laughed with Lydia Martin. He wanted her. There was only one thing in the world that he wanted more than Allison Argent.

Revenge.

And he would have both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bum bum bum. Enter Matt of the sinister plotting stage left!
> 
> Sooo, Lydia's off the fence and now knows.
> 
> Finally got the dreaded dance out of the way. It didn't turn out quite like I wanted, but I'm satisfied. We'll be seguing into the summer here pretty quickly as Gerard and Matt take their turns on the villains podium.
> 
> Big, big, big, BIG thank you to my wonderful beta AvengingPhoenix. You're a lifesaver, you are.


	42. Forty-Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The full moon after the dance. The Sheriff's Department reacts to the engagement. Girl's night out.

**_Forty-Two:_ **

_“Face your life, its pain, its pleasure, leave no path untaken.”_

_~ Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book ~_

The run that night surpasses anything Peter has felt in a long time. He was surrounded by his pack. By his Betas, by his Emissary, by his Mate. Boyd and Scott venture out with them that night. The wolves of the pack running circuits and loops around the two humans. Erica plays tag with Isaac and Scott, using Boyd as home base. Derek chases Jackson for five miles after he makes a comment about Scott that Derek decides to find offensive. Scott never notices, too busy laughing and running after Isaac threatening to pull his tail.

Danny puts himself in proximity of his Alpha and his Pack Mother. His boyfriend broke up with him halfway through the dance, and he feels vulnerable and hurt. Stiles calls the ex a douche quite loudly, cuddles Danny close, and then races with him through the night.

Peter likes this feeling of happy contentment running through him. It’s the first full moon since before the fire that he can remember not having a nagging sense of worry and fear in the back of his mind. He’s still alert. He isn’t stupid. Gerard Argent is still out there somewhere, and while Peter can hope that Chris will contain it, he isn’t banking on it. Gerard won’t stop until he has revenge for Kate’s death. He won’t be satisfied until every member of Peter’s pack, human and not, are dead.

He keeps a protective watch on all his pack that night. Calls them back when they run too far and their scents begin to fade. Circles around to press his muzzle against sides and hands. The pack Elders are safe, back at the den waiting for them to return in the morning. Melissa will have a feast waiting for them when they straggle in in the early hours covered in leaves and twigs, clad in torn (and in some cases missing) clothes. Jeorek will be sitting at the table pretending to read the paper, smirking at them over the top of it.

Jackson flushes a brace of rabbits out of their burrow toward morning, and he, Isaac and Erica make chase. Derek follows and eventually herds them back to the clearing the pack has made their own the last few moons.

When they get there Peter circles around them, making sure they’re all settled. With the moon riding high and full, the wolves are more distinct and action than anything else. The pattern they fall into is no surprise to the Alpha.

Jackson and Isaac brackett Danny, who curls up into a little ball of sadness and lets his best friend and pack brother comfort him. Erica takes it upon herself to climb all over Boyd in what she claims is an attempt to find the optimal position to keep him warm. Peter knows she’s trying to find the one spot that lets her have the most contact with the young druid. Scott makes a giant pile of leaves and then crawls _underneath_ Derek. They’ve been together long enough now for Scott to know that for Derek, anything less than full coverage (for optimum protection) isn’t good enough. He takes it in his stride and lets the big Beta wrap himself around him with a resigned look on his face.

Stiles sits at the edge of the clearing and watches them all settle down. It amazes Peter sometimes how still and focused she can get when she’s watching over those she’s claimed as hers. Her usual frenzy of energy and movement and speech all gone in moments likes these. Once they’ve all settled Stiles paces through the group and touches each of them in turn. Danny gets a kiss to the forehead and Scott unearths himself long enough for a hug. Derek gets a kiss too. Peter huffs a wolfy laugh watching his nephew go cross eyed trying to see the end of his nose. Then Stiles paces back toward where Peter has stationed himself.

They take a few quiet moments to settle down. Stiles tucks herself up under one of his forepaws, letting him drape his head over her shoulder and curve his body around hers. She falls asleep easily, but Peter stays awake, red eyes glinting in the graying light of pre dawn until the breathing of each one of his pack has gone slow and even. Then he too, sleeps.

\- - -

By taking Melissa to La Rue, Jeorek knew that within ten hours the entire town would know that their Sheriff was getting married. So he spent quite a bit of time between then and now quietly rolling his eyes and ignoring the exchange of money going on behind his back. Deputy Markham was the departmental bookie, and he took bets on everything. It came as exactly no surprise at all that they’d been betting on their boss’ love life.

It even went as far as the staff at Beacon Hills Memorial where Melissa worked.

So, on the Monday after the dance absolutely no one was surprised to see the ADA walk into the Sheriff’s office unannounced with a folder in her hands. She did, after all, have a hundred bucks riding on whether or not the Sheriff would be adopting Scott or not. She’d had a marriage license, name change paperwork, adoption paperwork (you name it, she had it) drawn up the day she found out that Jeorek Stilinski and Melissa McCall were dating.

She came out of the office empty handed, waltzed into the bullpen and told Markham that he owed her a hundred bucks, and anyone else who’d bet against her.

Jeorek yelled at her to get out of his building, and then slammed his office door shut. Ten minutes later Janine informed them all that he was filling out the paperwork the ADA had brought with her with a smile on his face.

Inside the office that McCall and Frakes had been given, Rafael watched the commotion curiously. Whatever was happening, the Sheriff was at the center of it and he wanted to know what it was.

“I’m going to get more coffee, you want any?” he asked, standing up.

“Sure” Frakes replied, not looking up from the case file he was buried in.

Rafael grabbed their cups and ventured out into the bullpen for coffee and information. He didn’t like what he heard.

\- - -

On Tuesday the girls went out to dinner at Lydia’s favorite Greek place. They talked about Derek and Scott being the talk of the school. About Peter showing up at the dance for Stiles. They teased Erica about Boyd. How they’d just sort of fallen together like puzzle pieces. Lydia complained loudly about how Jackson was an idiot, but wouldn’t tell any of them why he was an idiot _this_ time.

Between the three of them (not so much Erica, becuase she was still new to it all, but she was willing to be a visual aide) they managed to answer every question Lydia could come up with. Of course, a couple of those answers were ‘I’ll have to ask my Dad’ or ‘You should ask Peter, or maybe Derek’.

They teased Erica some more. They poked fun at how old-married-couple Stiles and Peter were becoming. Allison said it was starting to feel like they’d been a _them_ forever, and why talk about it when they all knew it was forever?

“I want that” Lydia remarked when the table got all quiet. “You guys are so steady.”

“You should see them when the pack is together at home” Erica chimed in. “It’s disgusting. Like planets orbiting each other.”

Stiles’ ears were red “Can we talk about something else?”

“No” Allison said. “Because believe it or not Stiles, your relationship is the great white shining example of awesome the rest of us are using.”

“Why?”

“Because five seconds in a room with the two of you and you can hear _‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’_ in the background” Lydia said, blunt as ever.

“We’re not lions, Lyd!” Stiles protested while the others laughed.

“Fine, _‘Lady and the Tramp’_ then.”

Erica cracked up, leaning back in her seat “Please tell me you guys have sat over a plate of spaghetti together!”

Stiles flushed red “It wasn’t spaghetti! He took me to that Italian place on Center Street for my birthday.”

The others all laughed at her before Lydia turned to Allison “What about you?”

“What about me?” Allison asked.

“Well, is there anyone you’re interested in?”

“No” Allison shook her head. “Not since Scott.”

“What about that boy?” Erica asked.

“What boy?” Allison, Lydia and Stiles chorused.

“That boy with the camera” Erica said. “He spent all semester staring at you during Lacrosse practice.”

“That guy from the yearbook?” Stiles wondered. “With the blue eyes and the creepy stare that makes you want a mumu to cover yourself with?”

“He’s not that creepy” Erica defended. “He’s always been nice to me.”

“The way he stares at Allison is a little creepy, Erica” Stiles replied.

“Do we even know his name?” Lydia asked.

Allison was blushing as she tried to recall the boy they were talking about “I don’t remember him.”

Erica shrugged “Oh, well, maybe we can keep an eye out for him?”

“What for?” Lydia asked “Dating potential?”

“Or should we be reporting him to my Dad for stalking?” Stiles added.

Allison shrugged “it doesn’t matter. I don’t think I’m really ready to date right now.”

“Scott did yank you around a bit” Lydia said knowingly.

“Not on purpose!” Stiles defended.

“I know that” Allison said. “I know he liked me. I also know he was reluctant because of the whole hunter thing.”

Stiles winced “That might have been my fault.”

“I know that too. It’s okay, I understand” Allison shrugged. “Besides, I think if we had gotten together we might have ended up a little too Romeo and Juliet.”

“And we all know how that ended.” said Lydia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that by now we've all established that I am a hopeless romantic. ^_^
> 
> Up next, Rafael and Melissa have a conversation, and we head into summer.
> 
> Thank you again to my wonderful beta, miss AvengingPhoenix, whom I don't know what I'd do without.


	43. Forty-Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finals are approaching, and an opponent bows out.

**_Forty-Three:_ **

_“Be grateful for luck. Pay the thunder no mind - listen to the birds; and don’t hate nobody.”_

_~ Eubie Blake ~_

The rest of the week passes quietly. It rains a lot, not surprising for northern California this time of year. They’re speeding their way into the summer months. Every student at Beacon Hills High School fall into the frustrated haze that accompanies the run up to finals. Scott starts carrying flashcards around, thrusting them into the faces of whichever unfortunate person is sitting next to him at any given time. Last year that person had always been Stiles. She’d dragged both herself and him through finals with a crazed glint in her eyes.

They’d skipped the last day of school and gone mini golfing to celebrate the end last year.

This year was a different show. Derek proved himself quite patient. Isaac threw flashcards back at Scott and they quizzed each other. Jackson got incredibly grumpy and Danny took to carrying around a package of Fig Newtons to feed to him whenever he got scowly. It turned out this wasn’t a new coping mechanism for Danny, because Lydia came to school with a package of her own on Wednesday and started throwing them at her ex-boyfriend (from across the room in some cases).

Erica and Boyd took advantage of their new relationship to study together. They became such a combined unit so quickly that Stiles accused Boyd of using the Vulcan Mind Meld on Erica to get a head start on the relationship thing. Boyd just grinned and raised his hand in Vulcan Salute, freaking Stiles out.

Allison, Lydia, Stiles and Danny are the only ones who seem to be okay through the week. Finals are still a few weeks away, and they’ve all got high GPAs (Lydia and Stiles are first and second in their class respectively), so they’re not worried. Yet. They all share several AP classes together and resolve to make sure everyone gets through with their sanity intact.

Peter appears at the school on Thursday with a glint in his eyes. He’s wearing running clothes and a sly grin. Stiles throws herself at him in excitement, making her relationship with an older guy a hot topic again (Scott and Derek had taken the limelight after the dance). She’d taken off for the locker room and changed into her gym clothes. Derek arrived and whisked Scott away in the camaro, causing another bunch of gossip.

When Stiles came back she shoved her things and her car keys into Isaac’s chest and they took off into the woods, following the paths the cross country team favored. It was raining fairly heavily, so the handsome older guy and the hyperactive girl made quite a sight as they ran into the trees.

They ran for several hours. Through the rain and mist. The higher body temperature of werewolves meant they didn’t get cold because of the rain. It gave both Stiles and Peter time to reaffirm their connection. To feel out the bond between them that was slowly unfurling out into what would, one day, be a full mating bond.

It was peaceful, and when they laughed, they did it together, breathing the same air.

\- - -

Scott was losing his mind. Finals were going to kill him, he knew it. He practically threw himself into the passenger seat of the camaro in an attempt to get away from school. He threw his backpack into the back seat and leaned over the gearshift into Derek’s space “Kill me now, okay?”

Derek huffed a laughed and locked an arm around Scott’s waist, pulling him fully into his lap “Why would I do that?”

Scott heaved a heavy sigh, shifting until his torso was straight. The heavy humidity in the air this week was affecting his asthma* and his chest felt tight. “Finals suck” he said, “and I don’t wanna take ‘em.”

Derek tried not to laugh, but Scott smacked his shoulder anyway. He squirmed a little when Derek tucked his nose behind his ear to scent him. It was weird, okay? He was getting used to all the weird wolfy things all the people in his life did now, but it was a work in progress. At least he’d gotten past jumping away from them when they did it.

“Would food help?” Derek asked into Scott’s neck.

“Mae’s?” Scott wondered.

“Sure” Derek replied and Scott dumped himself back into the passenger seat. The engine growled as Derek put it into first and headed out of the parking lot.

“I want to swing by the hospital and see Mom after” Scott said as his stomach growled ferociously.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just haven’t had a lot of time with her alone, so I thought I’d take her a burger” Scott shrugged.

Derek nodded. He knew how important any time you could get with your mother was. For years he had only been able to look back on his family with pain and guilt. Now, after coming back to Beacon Hills and facing what had happened, he was able to look back at the good things. He missed his family, and he wished he’d spent more time with them. “I’ll drop you on my way home.”

\- - -

“Melissa!”

Melissa stopped and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and held it, hoping that she hadn’t heard the voice she had. Slowly she turned around and peeked behind her. She frowned “What are you doing here Rafe?”

Rafael closed the distance between them “We need to talk.”

“I already told you that seeing you or not was up to Scott” Melissa said. “I don’t see what we have to talk about.”

“I heard a rumor that you and Sheriff Stilinski are seeing each other?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes.”

“Seriously?”

Melissa huffed and crossed her arms “As a matter of fact, we’re not dating, we’re getting married.”

Rafael tried to hide his wince, but Melissa knew him well enough to spot it. So he’d heard they were getting married, not just dating. Rafael gave her a stony look “You can’t marry him.”

“And why not?”

“He’s a -”

“If you try to say that Jeorek Stilinski isn’t a good man, Rafe, I’m going to hit you” Melissa cut in. “He’s the best man I’ve ever met.”

Rafael scowled “You can’t marry him, Melissa!”

“Why do you care?” Melissa demanded.

“You’re my wife!” Rafael exclaimed loudly.

Melissa stared at him “No. I’m not.” Rafael opened his mouth to protest, and Melissa raised a hand, stopping him “I’m not your wife. I haven’t been your wife in a long time. Not in ten years.”

“Mel.”

“No, you need to listen to me, Rafe” Melissa said, pulling him to the side of the hallway out of the flow of traffic. “You chose your career over your family. We got divorced. You can’t possibly have expected me to wait for you to come back. For Scott to?”

Rafael looked away, frowning “You’re my family, Mel.”

“You left us, Rafe. Even if Jeorek wasn’t in the picture, we would never get back together.”

“Scott -”

“Scott is angry” Melissa said. “You left him. He was six and his hero was gone. He thought he’d done something wrong.”

“He never -”

“I know that, but you never even sent a birthday card after the first couple of years.” Melissa sighed. She hated hurting him, but living with the expectation of getting them back wasn’t healthy. “What else was a little boy supposed to think?”

Rafael watched Melissa for a few moments, hating the pity that flashed in her eyes “He’s my son.”

“No I’m not.”

Both Rafael and Melissa turned to look behind the tall FBI agent. Scott stood in the hallway a few feet away, a takeout bag clutched in his hand. He had a pinched, angry looked around his eyes.

“Scott” Melissa said, but Scott cut her off as he walked over “No, Mom.”

He turned to Rafael “You aren’t my Dad. You gave me half my DNA, I got my hair color from you, but you are not my Dad.”

“Scott, I -”

“You left” Scott cut Rafael off. “You left and for the longest time I thought it was because I did something wrong. But you know what? I didn’t, because Dads don’t leave when you do something wrong. Dads stick around and help you figure things out. My Dad is a good man, a great man. He’s the best Sheriff Beacon Hills has ever had. He never makes me feel unwanted. He _wants_ me. And when he and Mom finally get married he’s going to adopt me and he’ll be _mine_.”

Rafael stared at Scott, taking in his features. He’d grown up and he’d missed it all. Somewhere in his pursuit for success he’d lost sight of things. Lost sight of the boy he’d left behind. The boy who had become a young man when Rafael wasn’t looking. He sighed. He knew defeat when it hit him over the head.

“Are you happy, Scott?” Rafael asked.

Melissa placed both of her hands on her son’s shoulders as he straightened up “Yeah. I’ve got Mom, and an awesome Dad, and they’re making it official. My sister is going to actually _be_ my sister… And I’ve got a pretty awesome boyfriend.”

“Okay” Rafael sighed. “Okay.”

“Rafe?” Melissa said softly.

Rafael waved her off “I get it.” He met Scott’s gaze “I do want you to be happy, Scott.”

“I am happy.”

“Good. Okay.” Rafael ran a hand through his hair. “I guess there’s no reason to drag this out. I’m glad you’re happy Mel. You deserve it.”

“Thank you” Melissa said. “You deserve to be happy too, Rafe.”

“Thanks.” Rafael stared when Scott offered his hand for his father to take. The Agent shook his hand, respecting Scott’s calm approach to the situation. “You look after your Mom, okay?”

“I will” Scott nodded.

“Melissa” Rafael nodded, and she kissed him on the cheek. Then Rafael McCall turned around and left them behind for the last time, feeling worn, but lighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *As a person who suffers from Asthma, I can honestly tell you that it absolutely sucks when the weather changes. Humidity bites when you're having problems. When the weather goes from dry and cool (or hot) to super humid quickly it really messes with things.
> 
> Also, I hope that all of you are okay with Papa McCall bowing out gracefully. It was originally supposed to be a screaming match with them moving the wedding up to prevent him from trying to stop the adoption, but I couldn't get it written the way I wanted to. So I hope this is different. I think with the colors he's showing in 3B, bowing out gracefully is more his style.
> 
> Big thank you to AvengingPhoenix, who betas and babies me at the same time. Love you!


	44. Forty-Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott and Stiles have a sibling moment. Allison and Gerard have a conversation.

**_Forty-Four:_ **

_“There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you, and there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.”_

_~ Lemony Snicket; Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid ~_

“Okay, that’s it” Stiles said, closing her chemistry book with a thud and glaring across her bed at her brother. “What’s up?”

Scott looked innocently up at her, frozen from where he’d been figiting “Nothing.”

“Yeah right, nothing” Stiles replied. “I’ve known you how long?”

“Right” Scott said, not even trying to defend against that. He bit his lip uncertainly.

Stiles sat up into lotus position and pulled Scott’s hands into hers “We’ve always been able to tell each other anything, Scottie.”

“I know” Scott said, then, because they were alone in her room, sharing space like they always had, he let himself pitch forward into her arms. “It’s Derek.”

Stiles made an encouraging noise in her throat as Scott settled his head into her lap. She settled into running her fingers through his hair. This was old, familiar and warm to both of them. “Did he do something?” she asked softly.

“No.”

“Did he not do something?” Stiles said. Scott didn’t say anything and that was enough. “Ah. What is it you want?”

“Is it too soon for me to want to know if he loves me or not?” Scott asked, keeping his eyes closed so that he didn’t have to look his best friend in the eye.

“No. I don’t think so” Stiles faltered a little uncertainly. She didn’t have very much experience with relationships, and what she did know had been garnered recently with the only man she would ever be in a relationship with.

“Have you and Peter said it?” Scott asked, peeking one eye open curiously. He was rewarded with Stiles’ classic blotchy blush covering her cheeks. He grinned “When?”

“A while ago.”

“Who said it first?”

“I did, but I also told him he loved me right after that.”

“How did he react to that?”

“He agreed with me.”

“Oh.”

“You love Derek?” Stiles asked.

Scott thought about it for a minute, then nodded “Yeah.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“What if I tell him and he doesn’t say it back?”

“Scott, you know Derek” Stiles said. "He lives in that angry shell. He'd never say it first because he's afraid of you not saying it back."

“So I should say it first?” Scott asked.

“Buck up soldier” Stiles replied. “Be the brave one, and then give him time to absorb it. You’re gonna surprise the guy.”

“Right. Let him absorb it.” Scott rolled over and stuck his face in Sties’ stomach. She knew it was coming. It was something they’d done forever. Usually she would squirm away smacking Scott with the nearest pillow. This time she braced herself for the inevitable as Scott yanked her shirt up and blew a very wet, very loud raspberry on her belly.

She squealed, and then grabbed for the nearest pillow.

\- - -

The faucet was drip, drip, dripping behind him, but Matt didn’t let that break his concentration. The small storage room in his house that his mother had let him convert into a darkroom was lit barely by the red bulb overhead. He was very carefully moving each photograph from one chemical solution to the next. He watched, concentration creasing the space between his eyebrows, as Allison Argent’s beautiful face materialized on the paper.

Slowly, carefully, Matt lifted the photograph out of the solution with his tweezers. He quickly attached it to the drying line and went about finishing up the rest of the photos. The photo of Allison mid-laugh was soon joined by several others. In one she was standing at her locker with Lydia. In another she had her arms linked with Stiles and Erica as Lydia led them through the mall. A series of her and her friends at the dance.

On one wall of the little room was a collage of pictures of Allison. Laughing, talking, eating. Some of her in her room from the street. Each picture was one of his best, Matt thought. On the adjacent wall were a series of photographs of a group of people. Above them was a team photo of the 2006 Beacon Hills High School swim team. A few faces were blacked out - they hadn’t been there that night. A few didn’t matter anymore, accidents or life having given his revenge for him.

Below the photo were individual photos of each person who had been there that night. Camden Lahey was crossed out in red, he was dead. Coach Lahey was in prison. That had made him smile when he’d read about the arrest in the paper. The article was pinned up next to the Coach’s headshot. He’d gotten his in the end.

But the others. Oh, the others were going to pay. They would pay. They would suffer just like they’d made him suffer. He would make sure of it. Most of them no longer lived in town, but six of them had stayed. Each had a series of photos beneath their headshot: work, home, places they frequented. He was learning their routines, and soon he could begin his plan to make them pay.

Until then, well, Matt lifted a final photograph into the air to hang it on the drying line. This one had been taken at lunch today. A close up of Allison’s smiling face. Matt gazed at it as the photograph dried slowly.

She was perfect.

\- - -

Allison tapped the toe of her boot on the linoleum floor of the gas station as she waited in line to pay for her gas. She bobbed her head a bit to the music piping through the overhead speakers. The school year was almost over, and Allison was looking forward to being able to sleep in all she wanted, and more time spent with her friends. Her parents were talking about spending the last half of the summer in France, but Allison couldn’t see that happening with her grandfather still out there somewhere.

The guy in front of her gave her a sideways smile, and Allison smiled back uncomfortably. She shifted forward a bit as someone came up behind her, and suddenly Allison knew something was wrong. A hand came down on her shoulder and she jumped, spinning to see the person behind her.

Gerard smiled (probably in what he thought was a benign way, but just came off as sinister) at her “Hello Allison.”

Allison smiled tightly “Grandfather.”

“Why so formal, sweetheart?” Gerard asked, a bite to his tone that had the little hairs on the back of her neck standing on end.

“I don’t really know you” Allison replied.

“You’re still my granddaughter, I’d like you to call me Grandpa” Gerard said.

“Thank you, no” Allison replied, pulling her shoulder out of his grasp. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“My parents told me to stay away from you” Allison said, eyes flicking around the gas station. Now that she was paying attention, she couldn’t believe that she hadn’t noticed she was surrounded by at least four other hunters alongside her grandfather. “And I’m pretty sure they told you to stay away from me.”

“And I’m sure you always do what they tell you?”

Allison’s eyes flickered to the window where she could see her toyota and the blonde leaning against the passenger door. She looked back up at Gerard and knew she had to get out of this as quickly as possible. If he realized that the girl with her was a werewolf only bad things could happen.

The line moved forward and Allison went about getting out her money so that she wouldn’t have to look her grandfather in the eyes. “I do when they tell me why they don’t want me to do something” she told him.

“Oh?” he sounded amused. “And what did they tell you?”

“That they don’t want me getting caught up in something that both has nothing to do with us and is morally ambiguous” Allison said sharply.

Gerard laughed. It made a chill run down Allison’s spine. “I’m not a danger to you, my girl.”

It was Allison’s turn at the register and she quickly payed for her gas and turned to leave the store, stopping long enough to look Gerard in the eyes, her own hard and ferocious. “You may not be a danger to me, but your vendetta is. We follow the code, which you are no longer doing. I’ll thank you to never talk to me again.”

Gerard scowled as he watched his granddaughter leave the store with a straight back. He watched her set about pumping her gas as her little blonde friend talked to her. He watched for a few moments until something else caught his eye. His gaze narrowed as he took in the boy at the farthest away pump. He looked like he was filling his car with gas, but he had a fairly expensive camera in his hands.

He was taking pictures of Allison.

“Jacob” Gerard said. A tall, scruffy man who had been hunting with Gerard for the last fifteen years appeared at his elbow. Gerard pointed “Find out who that boy is, would you?”

Jacob Wester nodded, taking in the boy’s appearance and the car behind him “You want me to find out why he’s taking pictures of the girl?”

Gerard nodded, lips thinning in thought “I want to know everything about him. If he’s a danger I want to know it… if we can use him…”

Wester nodded knowingly. If they could use him they’d have a surprise up their sleeves that the wolves and Chris would not expect. “I’m on it Boss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated in the last couple of days. I'm not ashamed to say that life has basically hung me out to dry and it's been hard to find the motivation to write at all. Hopefully I'll be able to get back onto our regular update schedule this week. :-)
> 
> Hope this intrigues you. I have plans for Matt and Gerard. ^_^  
> More Steter next chapter, I need the fluffies.


	45. Forty-Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pack moments and fluffies, and the devil makes a deal.

**_Forty-Five:_ **

_“Houses are like people - some you like and some you don’t like - and once in a while there is one you love.”_

_~ L.M. Montgomery, Emily Climbs ~_

Isaac went up on his toes and used his fingertips to push the underside of the clear tarp so that water crashed down to the ground from where it had pooled. Across the room Derek gave him an evil look, but said nothing. They had been sharing a room ever since the Sheriff had taken in Isaac, and now shared the relationship of older/younger brothers. Isaac smirked and skipped over to the next heavy dip in the tarp to repeat the process.

Scott turned a circle in the middle of what would be the living room eventually. The Hale house had been torn down completely, and the framework for new walls were going up rapidly. Derek had spent a lot of time out here, helping tear down his demons. In the last two weeks that had tapered off and Peter had replaced him as their future started to appear. His involvement in the planning had solidified his new friendship with Max Thompson, solidifying himself a place as a partner in his firm.

Peter and Stiles stood in the middle of the kitchen area, arms wrapped around each other, watching their pack. Big clear tarps had been tossed over sections of the framework. Mostly around the fireplace, which was the only piece of the old house that Peter and Derek had chosen to keep. Stiles had a blue and white striped beanie pulled down over her ears and her head resting on Peter’s shoulder. Peter’s eyes were Alpha red as he watched his pack.

Erica was sitting on the top step leading to what was going to be a big wrap around porch, sitting two steps below her and leaning into the space between her legs was Boyd, his head tipped back, eyes closed as he basked in the sunshine breaking through the trees.

Jackson and Danny were playing (not that they’d admit it) around the foundation of the house. Jackson had a big brown mud spot on his shirt, the instigation of this bout of rough and tumble.

Melissa was curled up in Jeorek’s arms. They were having a rare day off, and had plans to go out just them later. For now, Jeorek was leaning against Melissa’s car with his arms wrapped around her. Lydia was perched on the hood of the car next to them, clutching a steaming cup of coffee in both hands.

“What do you think?” Peter whispered into Stiles’ ear, before hooking his chin onto the top of her head.

“I like it” Stiles said, her eyes following Isaac as he dashed past, laughing, followed by a wet Derek wearing his grumpy cat face. “Lots of room. Lots of bedrooms.”

“Three floors” Peter answered. “A library instead of a study, nine bedrooms.”

“Attic bedroom?”

“First floor guest room” Peter corrected.

Stiles nodded “I want lots of counter space. I want to be able to _bake_.”

“Cookies!” Scott appeared at Stiles’ elbow, throwing himself at them, interrupting their embrace. Peter took both of their weight with a grunt as Stiles laughed and hugged her brother back. Scott was grinning and a little breathless “Oatmeal chocolate chip?”

“Snickerdoodles!” Jeorek voted, having heard Scott’s opinion.

“Peanut Butter!” Erica yelled, waving a hand in the air.

Stiles heaved, lifting Scott by his waist and swinging him about in a circle. Scott shrieked, still not used to the advantage Stiles now had because of the werewolf strength. She was grinning “I’ll think about it.”

Danny flopped down on his back on the cool cement, panting “Brownies.”

Jackson flopped down next to Danny, reaching out to yank Isaac down next to him. He misjudged the trajectory and Isaac crashed down on top of the other boy, winding him. Jackson gasped for air as Danny laughed. Isaac rolled over into the gap between the two boys. Once Jackson got his breath back he said “Brownies with nuts.”

“Yum” Isaac said, grinning happily. He rolled over onto his side and into Jackson’s space “Yes to all!”

“I am not Betty Crocker!” Stiles exclaimed.

Derek appeared and wrestled Scott out of Stiles’ arms, Scott went willingly. “No” he deadpanned. “You’re much prettier.”

Stiles couldn’t decide if she needed to smack him or not, but Peter interrupted before she could make up her mind. “All right, anyone who is a wolf, we’re going for a run!”

Erica whooped and jumped up, dislodging Boyd, who grumbled and heaved himself to his feet. Danny, Isaac and Jackson all rolled to their feet and joined Erica at the base of the stairs. Boyd lumbered over to Lydia and the parents.

“That’s our cue, hon” Melissa said, patting Jeorek’s arm. They stood up and started gathering up the light jackets the pack had abandoned, throwing them into the back seat of Melissa’s car. Derek and Scott ambled down the steps and toward the car.

“Do you need a ride, Lydia?” Melissa asked kindly as Scott climbed into Boyd’s car. They were headed to the clinic, Scott for work, Boyd for a lesson with Deaton.

“Nope” Lydia said, a devious smirk on her face. She help up her hand, a keyring dangling from one finger “I have Jackson’s keys.”

Danny guffawed and Jackson growled threateningly. Peter cuffed him upside the head as he passed. The wolves all turned glowing eyes on their Alpha as they shifted, waiting. Peter’s red eyes scanned the seven wolves in his care and a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He looked back at the five humans (Lydia had just sort of _appeared_ in his pack, he still wasn’t sure how), Jeorek nodded at him. Peter threw back his head and howled. Seven howls answered back. Eyes and laughs went to Scott who was leaning out the passenger window of Boyd’s car, hands cupped around his mouth. He waved.

Peter turned and led his wolves into the trees.

\- - -

Matt ducked behind a display of perfume and sighed. He was thinking about giving up on this trip. Lydia was sharp, and somehow Matt thought that she was aware that he was following Allison. He peeked around the display to try and catch a glimpse of the two girls, and yelped as a hand came down on the back of his neck.

“Not a word, kid” a gruff male voice said. The grip on his neck tightened when he tried to wriggle free. Matt was hauled up and around to face a man with a bald head and a scruffy goatee.

“I wasn’t doing anything!” Matt exclaimed.

“Do I look like mall security to you?” the man demanded.

“No?”

The man smirked “No. You’re coming with me.”

“Why?” Matt tried to get out of the man’s hold, but couldn’t.  “What do you want?”

“Me? I don’t want anything” the man said conversationally. “It’s my boss that wants to talk to you.”

He was escorted quickly out of the mall and into a big SUV with dark windows. There was a big dark skinned guy in the driver’s seat and an asian man in the middle seat. The bald guy handed Matt into the car where the asian man grabbed his arm and took over care of the teenager. The bald man got into the passenger seat and the car pulled away from the curb.

Matt’s imagination ran away with him as they drove. Over the fifteen minutes it took to go wherever they were going, he went from child slavery, to sex rings, to the mob. His theories got wilder and wilder as he was escorted into the small two story house on the edge of town. The two men from the SUV abandoned them in favor of the game on the TV. Baldy escorted him through the kitchen and into a small study.

Matt was shoved forward into the room and the Baldy slammed the door behind him.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Daehler.”

Matt spun, looking toward the desk in the corner of the room. There was an older man sitting there. “Who are you? Why am I here.”

“My name is Gerard Argent” the man said. “You’re here because you’ve been following my granddaughter.”

“I -”

Gerard waved him off “I have a deal to make with you, Mr. Daehler.”

“What?”

“Why, you help me, I help you, of course.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You help me create chaos for Allison and her friends, help me keep them guessing and confused so that I can get what I want, and I will help you get your revenge.”

Matt’s eyes narrowed “What do you know about it?”

“I know that several years ago you were thrown into a pool by a bunch of high school kids. I know that you couldn’t swim and that you almost drowned. I know that nothing was ever done to give you justice” Gerard steepled his fingers together. “I know you want to ruin the ones that hurt you.”

“Why would you help me?” Matt demanded.

“Why, because I’m the same as you, my boy!” Gerard leaned back, smiling innocently at the teen. “You see, some of Allison’s friends played a hand in the death of my daughter, and I want revenge.”

“I won’t help you hurt Allison” Matt said.

“Oh, Allison won’t be hurt. She’s just fallen in with the wrong crowd. If you help me, you may just get your revenge, and Allison.”

Matt stared at the man. There had to be a catch… but he was offering him everything he wanted. If he did this he knew he’d have to watch his back. Always make sure he had an alibi at all times.

“Do we have a deal?” Gerard asked, rising and offering his hand to the teen.

Matt watched him for a second, then he reached forward and shook the old man’s hand “We do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cackles evilly* This is my design.
> 
> Big thank you to my lovely beta AveningPhoenix, who always makes me feel better


	46. Forty-Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isaac thinks. Danny gets frustrated. Jackson is confused.

**_Forty-Six:_ **

_“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.”_

_~ A.A. Milne ~_

Isaac spent a lot of time being confused on how this became his life. He wondered a lot over what it was that had made Stiles decide he was worth trying to save instead of just telling her Alpha that he was a threat. He was grateful, don’t get him wrong, but sometimes he mulled it over and didn’t get what kind of use a skinny, scared, abused boy like him could be.

Then one day, early in the morning he woke up on the ground with Jackson snuffling his armpit and Danny kicking his best friend in the shin. He’d wriggled out of that mess in time to miss the impact when Derek threw himself into what had become a scuffle. Tucking himself under Stiles’ arm had just felt _right_.

Something inside him curled up all warm and content in moments like those now. Isaac had learned to identify it as his wolf. He had this giant family now, and most of the time got treated like the baby. Stiles said it was because he looked like a very tall, skinny cherubic angel, tongue in cheek. Peter said (in all seriousness) it was because of the situation he’d been in when they’d found him. None of their wolves would ever forget that Isaac had been downtrodden and abused by his own father.

It helped to explain how differently Danny, Jackson and Erica treated him. Danny was his brother, someone who treated Isaac like an equal (and tutored him in math). Erica had very quickly become like a little sister to him, and she took complete advantage of the fact that he had a hard time saying no to her.

Jackson on the other hand was just plain confusing. Like how sometimes Isaac was pretty sure that Jackson hated him, but then he’d do something like curl up with him on movie night. Or sit just a little too close at lunch. Or how he had the really bizarre habit of shoving him (albeit quite gently) out of the way of things.

It was weird. And Strange. And it made his wolf sit up and want to do things.

To Jackson. _With_ Jackson.

Isaac shook his head to clear it, then closed his locker. It was the last week of school before the summer break and the whole world has gone insane. Isaac turned and headed for his first afternoon class, eyeballing the kid he was following as he went.

Matt Daehler had come up on the Pack’s collective radar on Monday when he turned up to school smelling faintly like Gerard Argent. He’d been on the girls’ radar before that, but only in a humorous way because he was apparently obsessed with Allison. Allison who was very quickly becoming a part of the pack despite both her status as a hunter’s child and her parents’ protests.

It was the middle of the school day on Wednesday. They’d been watching Matt for two days now, and besides being a little weird and acting fishy when Allison is in the room, none of them had been able to figure the dude out.

Stiles was about ready to drag the boy into an empty classroom and shake him until answers fell out of his pockets like loose change.

Isaac didn’t blame her at all. It’s been nothing but crisis after crisis for the pack since the night Stiles was bitten. Isaac knew that Stiles had taken this whole werewolf thing and run with it. She’d taken on a role in the pack that had a lot of responsibility to it. Derek had explained it to him once, late at night in their room when Isaac had felt brave enough to ask. Stiles was the Pack Mom, and she owned that role like a boss.

It was kind of cool to have someone fuss over him like his Mom used to. Stiles always made sure he had enough to eat; could always rely on her to hug him or cuff him upside the head if he needed.

So this time Isaac was going to look after Stiles. He sped up a little, passing Danny with a nod and followed Matt into their history class. He’d find out what he was up to. If only so that Stiles had one less thing to worry about.

\- - -

Danny, like Stiles and Lydia, is a genius. He’s not a math and science guru like Lydia. Nor is he a history, mythology and literature guru like Stiles. Danny knows machines. If it has mechanics or programming, Danny can figure it out. It was no surprise to anyone that Danny had gotten into trouble for hacking when he was younger. Computers were his thing.

So Peter calls on Danny to crack into Matt’s history. Jeorek can’t do it, has no probable cause or warrant and therefore can’t use the resources of his office. So it comes to Danny. Danny doesn’t mind so long as he doesn’t have the FBI’s cyber crimes division on his ass about anything. His Mom doesn’t need that phone call.

He found almost nothing. Oh, he found his school records, a couple newspaper articles with his photographs attached from the local paper. Nothing at all to explain the crazy that had to be hiding underneath that perfectly normal looking exterior to explain the dude working with Gerard.

Danny was going to find something. He was going to find something or he was just gonna have to rip out Matt’s throat… _with his teeth_.

\- - -

Most of the time Jackson didn’t mind his title of King Douche. Most of the time. Sometimes (he was reluctant to admit it) it was a detriment. His pride and vanity stood in the way of a lot of things. Mostly his relationships with other people.

He would never admit it, but it all boiled down to two things. His parents. Both sets of them. The Whittemores were vain, elitist. Jackson had realized when he was very small that the only reason why they had adopted him was because having a perfect child to go with their perfect life was part of the construct of the life they wanted. His so called parents didn’t really care about their child, not really.

They cared only to the point that they looked like good parents.

His mother preferred to tell Jackson the truth. Always had. Why lie when she knew that the truth would hurt more? It was how she lived her life. So when Jackson found out that he was adopted at the age of nine and she told him that his birth mother hadn’t wanted him, he had no reason not to believe her.

So he’d spent all these years resenting two sets of parents… It didn’t leave a lot of room for much else.

He and Lydia had used each other. Sure, there had been actual feelings there. He had loved her, and she had loved him. But not enough to change. Never enough to change. Lydia knew what she wanted. Knew what was expected. She got both. Jackson had been after the trophy girl at first. Someone his parents wouldn’t put him down over. Lydia had fit the bill and they became the It Couple of Beacon Hills High.

The blow up between them had been inevitable. Jackson just hadn’t really factored in werewolves.

Werewolves, man. Jackson breathed in deeply, taking in all the scents around him. Danny and Isaac. Stiles and Scott had both been in this room earlier today. So had Allison. Boyd was seated in the corner in the back. Their target, Matt, was sitting near the window. He no longer smelled of Gerard Argent, but that didn’t really mean anything.

Gerard had aimed a gun at his Alpha. At Stiles and at the Sheriff. Gerard Argent had aimed a deadly weapon at the man who had taken him, broken and dying, and not only saved him, but given him something he had always wanted. A family.

Jackson’s eyes flickered over to Isaac, who was watching Matt out of the corner of his eye. Isaac. Jackson huffed and deliberately moved his gaze away from the other boy deliberately. He didn’t know what was up with that. His wolf liked Isaac. Loved the way he smelled. Always sat up and took notice when the other boy was in the room.

Jackson didn’t like boys. As cool with it as he was, he just didn’t. He never had before.

He wrinkled his nose in disgust as the next thought that entered his brain made him feel all of five years old. Did becoming a werewolf make him gay?

\- - -

Matt had instructions. Instruction and tools and a plan to create chaos for the Sheriff and the Hales. He didn’t really know why, other than the man wanted revenge against the Sheriff for killing his daughter. Matt understood revenge, and tonight would be the start of his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. There you have it. Surprise! Don't worry, Jackson will figure himself out, probably after Danny kicks him really really hard.
> 
> More to come soon. ^_^
> 
> Thank you to AvengingPhoenix for your encouragement and reassurance.


	47. Forty-Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victoria has an unwelcome visitor. Stiles should stay away from mechanics.

**_Forty-Seven:_ **

_“Evil is committed without effort, naturally, fatally; goodness is always the product of some art.”_

_~ Charles Baudelaire ~_

“Hello Victoria.”

Victoria paused in the doorway. Then she stepped into her kitchen, closing the door to the garage behind her and set her grocery bags on the counter. “What are you doing here?” she asked, not turning to face the man sitting at her kitchen table.

Gerard smiled, something sinister in his eyes “Why, I just wanted to say hello to my daughter in law. I can’t want that?”

Victoria began unpacking the groceries “No. You can’t.”

“Oh, come now Victoria. Surely you understand why I’m here.”

Victoria scowled and looked up at him, blue eyes fierce “Oh I understand. I understand that you’re just like your daughter. Kill. Kill. Kill them all! No conscious, no remorse.”

“They don’t deserve our compassion, Victoria. They’re monsters.”

“I know they’re monsters, Gerard” Victoria said. “But we aren’t. And we have to be careful, lest we become the monsters. You’ve become a monster.”

“Oh, have I?” Gerard looked amused now. “Is wanting to protect your family monstrous?”

Victoria snorted “You aren’t protecting your family. You’re out for revenge. You’re going to leave. You’re going to leave us alone. You’re going to leave Allison alone.”

Gerard stood up, a frown on his face and an angry tilt to his brow “I’m not a threat to you or Allison.”

“But only if we don’t get in your way” Victoria replied, not fooled for a second.  "Right?"

Gerard smiled with too many teeth and headed for the door. He didn't answer her as the door shut behind him. Victoria waited until she heard the sound of a car pulling away from the curb, then she picked up the phone and dialed.

\- - -

Things start to go wrong. Little things. Jackson wakes up to a flat tire on Thursday morning. Scott hits a weird hole on his bike and crashes head over heels onto the pavement, the frame of his bicycle bent beyond repair. Derek's windshield cracks all the way across. Jeorek's car won't start and he has to call out the mechanic the department uses. Stiles' jeep ends up with three gigantic, dented scratches along the driver's side.

When Isaac actually _trips_ over thin air at lunch, they all start to get suspicious. When Peter gets home that night furious because someone had vandalized the house, they knew something was going on.

Erica theorized that they'd somehow pissed off a leprechaun.

Danny decided that Matt Daehler had been pulled into Gerard's circle to cause chaos for the pack. Peter agreed. When told, so did the Sheriff.

It was easy to decide, but hard to figure out what was in it for Matt. A promise of time with Allison? Unlikely, but Gerard was savvy enough to convince a teenaged boy of almost anything. Gerard would work around Matt. Especially since Peter figured that Matt didn't _really_ know what he'd gotten himself into. He didn't know that he was pissing off a pack of werewolves. Didn't know he was working for a man that made the unabomber look positively sane.

There was no way he _could_ know. Just like there was no way for them to figure out what was in it for Matt. No newspaper articles, no police reports. Nothing. They would have to ask him if they wanted to know.

Peter figured that Gerard was planning his big move. He had to be. It was the only explanation for bringing Matt into this as a distraction.

He hated that it was working.

\- - -

The day school let out Stiles was sitting in her local auto shop instead of out celebrating the end of the year with her friends. She couldn’t stand looking at the dents in the door anymore, and really, her baby needed a tune up anyway. She’d spent twenty minutes annoying the absolute hell out of the mechanic because this dude? Not Tony. If you are not Tony, you are not worthy to so much as lay a finger on her jeep. She had called Tony and explained this to him, but he was on vacation and had laughed at her.

He wouldn’t be back for three weeks, did she want to wait that long? No, no she didn’t, thanks.

So there she sat after school let out for the summer watching some surfer looking dude lift her girl into the air and look under her skirt. There was a large fly buzzing about the office that Stiles was sure she would be snapping at like a common dog if it was buzzing around her head. She shook her head and looked away from the irritating insect to glance through the window at the mechanic again.

She straightened. What the hell?

Stiles stood up and moved toward the door in alarm, because there was a shadowy figure sneaking up on the man in the mechanic’s suit. She inhaled sharply as she pulled open the door, getting a lungful of gun oil and wolfsbane and old blood. A hunter. She snarled, then froze.

Pain like none she could remember filtered through her veins. Her lungs felt like they were seizing up and fire trickled through her system as she gasped for air. Her hand clutched at the handle of the door, warping the metal. She groped at her pocket for her phone.

Across the bay the mechanic went down with a wrench to the back of the head. The hunter dragged the downed man into place underneath the lift and then hit the button to make both the lift and Stiles’ jeep crash to the floor. The mechanic screamed and then went silent with a sense of finality. The hunter turned to face the werewolf in the doorway. An ugly grin marred his scruffy features.

Stiles’ legs gave out and she hit the floor with a thud and a pained gasp. Her phone skittered under a rolling tool kit. The man’s boots appeared in Stiles’ line of sight. He crouched down next to her with a wicked grin on his face.

“Well, would you look at that! Two for the price of one!” he exclaimed. “You feel that? You know what that is? That’s wolfsbane. Aerosolized.”

Stiles gasped in horror, struggling to breathe as her lips began to turn black.

Under the rolling cart her father’s tinny voice was calling her name in increasing worry.

\- - -

The phone call scared ten years off Jeorek’s life. Listening to dead air where his daughter’s happy babble should be. He paled rapidly and Markham asks him if he’s okay when he heard an unfamiliar voice say the word ‘wolfsbane’. He knew in that moment that nothing is okay. His daughter’s in the presence of a hunter and if anything happens to her nothing will ever be okay again.

Not for him. Not for Peter.

He set his phone down on his desk and looks Markham in the eye, deadly serious “My daughter is in trouble and I need this call traced right now.”

Markham, bless his soul, didn’t hesitate, he snatched up the Sheriff’s cell and bolted from the room to dispatch. Jeorek breathed in a deep breath and picked up his desk phone, dialing a number he had come to know by heart in recent months.

_“Hello?”_

“Peter?”

_“Jeorek? What’s wrong?”_

“A hunter has Stiles. She tried to call me, we’re tracing it.”

There’s a pause on the other end of the phone. When Peter’s voice comes through Jeorek can hear the ice in it _“I understand. She was supposed to take the jeep into the mechanic today.”_

“I remember.”

_“We’ll meet you there.”_

There’s a click and Jeorek nodded to himself before hanging up and leaving his office. Three of his deputies were waiting for him, loaded for bear. Markham careened around the corner as they headed for the door. Grant handed him a shotgun as they went, and took it upon himself to take the shotgun seat in the Sheriff’s SUV on the way.

\- - -

Matt had been brought along to watch. The target Wester was after was one of the ones on Matt’s list. One of those stupid varsity swimmers that had shoved him into a pool and left him to drown. Matt had felt anticipation curl up in his gut the entire way to the auto shop.

He… hadn’t expected this though.

He shivered from his place by the door watching the lift lower. Another car was in the way when it crushed the mechanic, and Matt felt satisfaction well up alongside the nausea. But now the scruffy bald man that was always at the old guy’s elbow was crouching over _Stiles Stilinski_. Stiles who Matt actually kind of liked despite Gerard’s hate on for her family and friends. Matt didn’t really have any reason to dislike Stiles.

She was writhing on the ground like she was in excruciating pain. Her lips looked blue and Wester was laughing. Matt flinched when he pulled out what had to be the biggest hunting knife Matt had ever seen. He outright jumped when Stiles snarled, her eyes glowing and she _changed_.

What the hell? What was she?

He didn’t get an answer, instead Wester brought the knife down and Stiles screamed in pain. That was when the howling started. It echoed up all around the building and Wester looked up in alarm. Matt instinctively took cover just as the high windows shattered. Three snarling _beasts_ crashed into the garage. In the distance sirens wailed.

Time to go.

Matt scuttled out of the door just in time to dive behind a dumpster as three police cars passed. He jogged down the alley and turned back to watch as the Sheriff and four deputies stormed the garage. He tucked his hands into his pockets and ducked his head down as he rapidly walked away. He slipped around the corner and kept on walking.

_What had he gotten himself into?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, to make up for the fact that the last chapter had no plot advancement at all really, I give you a chapter that is nothing _but_ plot.
> 
> Up next: Raging Steter fluffies with a side order of Pack Feels. ^_^


	48. Forty-Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pack feels in the aftermath if the auto shop. Chris receives a warning. Gerard and Matt converse.

**_Forty-Eight:_ **

_“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”_   
_~ Shel Silverstein ~_

Stiles lay quietly, curled up under her father’s chin in an old and familiar way. He was running his fingers through her hair, occasionally pressing a kiss into the crown of her head. Every single part of her _ached_. Her right arm was swathed in bandages because a douchey hunter (now rotting in a jail cell up on charges for murder) had decided to sheath his hunting knife in her forearm. It wasn’t healing like it should be because Stiles had wolfsbane poisoning.

Wolfsbane poisoning. Like lead poisoning only fifty times worse. Boyd was forcing a lurid purple tonic down her throat every four hours to help flush the poison from her system. It had slowed her healing down to nearly human levels, and slowed her metabolism as well. Even the ends of her hair hurt.

Jeorek was taking his turn with his child. His deputies had taken the hunter in for him, but they had had to deal with Stiles’ injuries first thing. Peter had been so angry he had taken the rest of the pack on a sweep of the town and the Preserve. They had flushed three hunters out of hiding and out of town.

Peter was at a sit down meeting with Chris Argent about Gerard and what would and would not be tolerated in Hale Territory. Jeorek was cradling his daughter in his arms while he watched Melissa carefully and quietly change the bandages on her arm.

“Papa?”

“Yeah Jitterbug?”

Stiles huffed a breath and twisted to look up at him “I love you.”

Jeorek gave in a squeezed his daughter softly “I love you too, Jitterbug.”

Scott snorted and three sets of eyes went to the dark haired boy wrapped around Stiles’ shins. They’d been shut up in Stiles’ room for almost eight hours now, and Jeorek knew that there was a gaggle of wolves outside the door, waiting anxiously. Melissa finished wrapping Stiles’ arm and climbed into the bed next to her fiance. She tucked her head onto Jeorek’s chest so that the two women were facing each other. Melissa ran her fingers along Stiles’ face.

“How you feeling, kiddo?”

Stiles smiled sleepily “I’m ok Mom.”

“Are you sure?” Melissa asked. “I’ll stay home if you need me to, or want me to.”

“I know” Stiles started poking Scott in the ribs with her toes. He snorted and wrapped his arms tightly around her feet in an attempt to make her stop. “We need to make things look normal right now.”

Jeorek snorted “That geriatric douche can bite me, you’re our daughter.”

“I know that Papa” Stiles said with a smile. “But Gerard is dangerous. The last thing we need him thinking is that we’re vulnerable. Please?”

“I don’t like it.”

“I’m going to be ok” Stiles said, then yawned.

“Go to sleep. Peter will be back soon and we’ll let the wild things in before we leave.”

Stiles nodded softly and dozed off. At her feet, Scott snorted loudly, rolled over and wedged himself into the gap over Jeorek’s legs between his sister and his mother. The two adults in the room exchanged a mildly amused look. The room fell silent, the clock ticking away. For a little while at least, their family was intact and safe.

Out in the hallway, the puppies were piled up around the door, all ears focused in on one particular heartbeat on the other side of the door.

\- - -

“Dad?”

Chris looked up from the tumbler of whiskey in his hand to see his daughter in the doorway of his study “Hey sweetheart.”

Allison stepped into the room and curled up in one of the chairs in front of Chris’ desk, tucking her knees up into one of his old college sweatshirts “What happened?”

Chris sighed and took a sip of the amber liquid in his glass. She, of course, wanted to know what had brought Peter and Derek to their doorstep “Stiles was attacked by one of Gerard’s men.”

Allison gasped, her eyes widening in surprise and a hand covering her mouth “Is she okay?”

“She was hurt pretty badly, but it looks like she’ll be alright. They got there in time.”

“What did the Hales want?”

“To give me a warning. The attack on Stiles was unprovoked and they're taking it as an act of hostility against the Pack. Your grandfather and all of his men are now trespassing on pack land and will be either killed, arrested or driven off as the pack sees fit.”

“So he was telling you to keep out of things?”

“Not quite” Chris set the glass down and looked his daughter in the eyes. “He was telling me that if I don’t take care of the problem, he will; and we won’t like the results if he does it.”

“You mean we’ll be burying Gerard next to Kate?”

“I don’t think there will be enough of Gerard left to bury.”

\- - -

Peter slipped into Stiles’ bedroom and paused in the doorway. A small smile quirked at his mouth at the sight on the bed. Stiles was propped against Scott’s side and her head was on his shoulder. Isaac was pressed up against her back, providing support to her other side. Jackson and Danny were bookended around her hips.

Derek appeared at Peter’s shoulder, and the two Hale’s exchanged a look. There was a pinched, tired look around Derek’s eyes, and deep shadows under Peter’s. Derek edged past his uncle and walked over to the bed, crouching down next to Scott. He set a hand on the younger man’s shoulder and Scott woke, turning his head to look at his boyfriend.

“Hey” Scott whispered softly.

Derek smiled tiredly. They hadn’t been home since yesterday. After the rescue they had spent hours into the night trying to track Gerard. After finding nothing they had gone to see Chris Argent. They were tired, angry, one of them was wounded and they were all hurting. Peter was furious and enough was enough.

“Hey” Derek said, leaning over and pressing a gentle kiss to Scott’s temple. Scott protested with a whine, making Derek huff and kiss him properly. “Feel like giving up your spot?”

Scott’s gaze went over Derek’s shoulder to Peter, whose gaze was riveted on Stiles’ sleeping face. “She’s going to be ok” Scott said, catching the Alpha’s gaze. “Boyd’s feeding her a cure for the wolfsbane poisoning, and Mom’s keeping track of her arm.”

Peter swallowed hard and Scott could see the pain in his eyes. There was an edge to him now that neither Scott nor Derek had seen in weeks. A sinister shadow behind his movements that made them think of the monstrous beast that they had first met.

A deliberate gaze and head movement from Scott had Peter across the room. Carefully Scott shuffled out from under Stiles and Danny. Peter carefully took his place. He slid into the gap that Scott left with a sigh. His head dipped and he inhaled the scent of mate, and pack and home. The creases in Stiles’ forehead smoothed out as she settled into Peter’s side. Her head found a familiar position tucked under his head.

Derek tugged on Scott’s hand and led him from the room and into the room he shared with Isaac. They settled into Derek’s bed together, exchanging a few sleepy kisses before they both fell asleep.

It had been a very exhausting two days, and it was barely the start of the summer.

\- - -

Matt slammed into the wall, pain shooting up his spine as he gasped for air. He clutched at the hand around his throat, scrambling to loosen the choking grip. Above him Gerard was glaring at him with a vengeful, sinister snarl.

“If you think I won’t make you vanish you’re over valuing yourself.”

“I didn’t sign up for mon-monsters!” Matt gasped out.

Gerard’s grip tightened and then released “No. You signed on for vengeance. If I’m not mistaken, Wester was taken down while hunting _your_ target.”

“I-I didn’t know Stilinski was a monster!” Matt protested.

“Stilinski?” Gerard’s grip loosened and his eyes narrowed in thought. “So the Sheriff’s daughter is a werewolf is she? That explains his involvement.”

Werewolves? Matt gasped and slid down the wall as Gerard released him. He stared up at the old man, his hand set protectively over his throat.

“I should be able to use that” Gerard said. He looked down at Matt with a sick little smile on his face “Remember this, boy. I _own_ you now. I know your plans, I know what you want… and I can most certainly pin _all of this_ on you.”

Matt nodded rapidly and watched as Gerard walked away. For the first time since their first meeting Matt wondered what he had gotten himself into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there you have it. It was supposed to be a little lighter with an undercurrent of hope, but it turned a bit more melancholy instead. I still feel like there's some hope in it though.
> 
> And the story of Gerard an Matt unfurls a bit more.


	49. Forty-Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluffy Steter feels. Fluffy Berica feels. Cute Scerek feels.

**_Forty-Nine:_ **

_“Well, I won’t give up on us. Even if the skies get rough. I’m giving you all my love. I’m still looking up.”_

_~ Jason Mraz, I Won’t Give Up ~_

A week into the summer after the incident at the garage and Gerard seems to have gone to ground. The Sheriff has no grounds to arrest Matt Daehler even though they’re all convinced he was both involved and they know where to find him. They made up a rota to watch him, and all anyone ever has to say about him is that he looks and smells terrified. They stopped seeing any of Gerard’s known foot soldiers two days after, but no one is foolish enough to believe he’d just up and leave town. Least of all Chris and Victoria.

Chris steps up, he shows up on the Stilinski doorstep with his daughter every night to touch base with Peter and the Sheriff. He’s decided enough is enough. Every hunter with any loyalty to either him or Victoria has been called in. Every resource he has is being brought to bear to try and figure out what his father is up to.

Danny showed up on the following Friday with a bag packed for a long weekend and his laptop. He hunted down every pillow and blanket he could find and conscripted Isaac into helping turn the living room into a pillow fort. He attempted to conscript Scott, but Scott threw a bridal magazine at his head (now that school was out, he’d developed an obsession for the upcoming wedding and had taken over planning) and he gave up on that idea. He hunkered down with a big container of Stiles’ cookies and spent his off hours hacking to try and find anything that might help.

Stiles was going nuts. The wolfsbane had cleared her system, but she was still tired a lot and her arm was still healing at a human speed. She’d been stuck inside the house and by the time Danny built his pillow fort she was snapping at everyone. Peter packed up some supplies and packed her into the jeep (fresh from the impound) and took her for a long drive. Stiles rolled down her window and perched her chin on the sill and put her arm outside, weaving it through the air as they drove.

Peter drove them the long way around the preserve to the Hale driveway. They bounced down the road that was scheduled to be re-graded the following week until they rolled up to the house that had Derek and several workmen working on the install of a roof. Derek waved to them as Peter guided Stiles around the house and down a small incline to what used to obviously be a backyard/gathering area. There were the remnants of a stone firepit and grill. A few dilapidated tables and an overrun garden. Stiles stopped at the top of the set of shallow slate steps to gaze down at the area. She knew instantly that this would be her new project as soon as Gerard was dealt with. The place was begging for a good weeding and some wind chimes that would annoy the absolute crap out of the boys.

“Really Peter?”

Peter just gave her a narrow eyed look as he guided her down the steps and toward the brand new hammock hanging between a big pine and a large, silver barked aspen tree. An old wrought iron garden table had been dragged over to it, leaving brown gouges in the earth.

“You said you wanted a hammock” Peter shrugged innocently. Stiles didn’t buy his act for a second, but let it go, because _hammock_.

Stiles climbed into the hammock, setting it swaying back and forth. She gazed up at the sky, dotted with clouds and watched the wind rustle the leaves of the trees. Peter set a small cooler on the table and smirked as he watched first one of Stiles’ shoes and then the other be flipped out of the hammock, followed by a pair of socks.

A hand appeared over the edge of the large hammock “Get in here Alpha-mine.”

Peter grinned and toed off his own shoes before climbing into the hammock. Stiles rolled into him, wrapping herself around him like an octopus with a happy little hum. She rubbed her scent into his neck and the collar of his shirt and he gave a happy little rumble as she settled.

“Sooo, let me tell you what I’m planning to do with this place.”

\- - -

“I’ve figured it out.”

“What?” Boyd asked, not looking up from the archaic book in his lap. Erica’s hand appeared and she wiggled her fingers under his nose. He looked over at her and raised an eyebrow at the look of pure mischief on her face.

“The weird smell.”

“What weird smell?” Boyd wondered. Erica grinned… well, wolfishly, and plucked the book from his hands before clambering across the gearshift of Boyd’s Mom’s Honda and into his lap. She slung her arms around his neck.

“The weird smell that Matt always has on him” She said cheekily like she expected a prize for appearing in Boyd’s personal space.

His arm went around her hips and the other hand played with a lock of her long blonde hair “Yeah? What is it?”

“Carrots.” Erica nodded decisively “He smells like mushy carrots. And chemicals, but Lydia says that just means he develops his own photos.”

“And what are you going to do with this vital information” that amount of sarcasm would have made Stiles proud and Derek scowl.

“Con you into taking me to dinner when Jackson relieves us.”

“How’s that gonna work?”

“Because I’ll talk about it until you agree just to get me to stop.”

Boyd chuckled and kissed her. Erica grinned between kisses, whispering “mushy carrots” against his lips. He pinched her in retaliation and her claws poked at his shoulders in reply.

“Dinner, huh?” Boyd asked when they parted for breath. Erica nodded. “Deal.”

\- - -

Derek sat down on the edge of the roof, swinging his legs over to dangle over the side of the house. The demolition of the old, burnt out husk of his old family home had been therapeutic. Building the home his pack would grow in was cathartic. He twisted the cap off the bottle of water he’d been tossed by one of the construction guys and took a swig as he swept his eyes over the land around the Hale House.

He smirked to himself at the sight that greeted him down by the fire pit. He’d been a little bemused when Peter had shoved the hammock into his arms with instructions to put it up, thanks. He’d done it and then decided to stick around and help lay shingles on the section of roof that was ready for it.

He watched his Alpha and his mate, curled up in a gently swaying hammock. They were talking softly. Softly enough that Derek would have to strain himself in order to hear. He didn’t really care about the conversation though, that was meant for them alone. No, what he cared about was the fact that Stiles was alive. She was alive and his uncle was still sane.

Derek knew that if they ever lost Stiles, Peter would fall down the rabbit hole and his sane, loving, capable uncle would never be seen again. The only thing that would be left was the monster. It wasn’t particularly healthy, to be that dependant on the safety and health of another person. Derek knew that, but he also knew that it had been Stiles that had pulled Peter back from the brink. The stability of having a pack again had helped, but Stiles had been the catalyst.

Derek didn’t think he could go back to the life he had been living. That angry, closed off person that he had been before he came back to Beacon Hills.

The sound of a car coming up the drive caught Derek’s attention and he swivelled around in time to see the porsche come into sight. He watched it roll to a stop next to the camaro and Scott climbed out of the vehicle. Derek smiled to himself and stood, heading over to where he could climb down from the roof without letting all and sundry know that he was a werewolf. By the time he reached the ground, Jackson had turned the porsche around and gunned it down the drive.

Scott met him halfway to the house with a grin. Derek wrapped his arms around the smaller male, tucking his face into his neck and inhaling the familiar scent of Scott and home and his. Scott let him, was getting pretty used to werewolf shenanigans by now. Had basically resigned himself to them for the rest of his life.

When they pulled apart, Scott grinned charmingly and said “I need a favor.”

Derek’s eyebrows crept upwards “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“Nope!” Scott said, unabashed. “In fact, I think you’re gonna hate it.”

“Answers no.”

“Aww, c’mon” Scott wheedled. “There’ll be cake!”

Derek’s eyebrows drew together grumpily “I’m not going to a wedding cake tasting with you Scott.”

Scott tugged at Derek’s henley and pouted, turning his very best puppy eyes on Derek “Pleeeaaase?”

“Scott.”

“I’ll give you as many kisses as you want!” Scott offered, bouncing up quickly and kissing Derek’s nose. They were fairly close in height, but Derek was both taller and wider than Scott.

He was not supposed to find situations like this adorable “Scott…”

“It’s cake. You and me and cake and kissing” Scott smiled at him and backed towards the camaro. “What’s so bad about that?”

Derek sighed and followed Scott, who whooped in victory and pumped a fist. As he got into the car, Derek knew he was going to regret this.

He did. He ate too much cake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I needed a break from the drama so I wrote fluffies instead. ^_^ Also, I'm celebrating hitting 80k in word count.
> 
> I have always wanted a hammock, but unfortunately the trees in my backyard are too far apart for one. :( Anyways, plot is moving forward, and I don't know how much longer this will take. I plan to go through to at least the Alpha Pack, if not more. Haven't decided if I'm gonna do much with 3b yet... we'll see how it goes.
> 
> Big thank you to my be AvengingPhoenix, who catches the majority of my spelling and grammatical errors. Especially on this chap.


	50. Fifty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isaac has an incident. Jackson gets his head out of his butt. Stiles, Erica and Danny are in deep trouble.

**_Fifty:_ **

_“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth.”_

_~ Jess C. Scott, The Intern ~_

Two weeks later Isaac was hit by a car. Without his werewolf healing he would have died on impact. The truck that hit him performs a hit and run, late at night when there are as few witnesses as possible. In fact, there were none. Isaac made contact with the pole of a traffic light, the truck takes out a fire hydrant during its escape.

Deputy Trehoe logged the incident as a near miss at a single glance from her boss. The culprit remains at large, much to everyone’s frustration. Just like every incident involving Gerard’s cabal, they remained unable to catch neither sight nor smell of any of them.

Isaac was brought home to heal overnight. At the sight of the damage, Jackson flipped his shit.

By the time they got Isaac home and into bed to sleep through the healing process Lydia had been declared pack officially for hitting Jackson repeatedly with her Physics book. Once she had the seething werewolf’s attention she threatened to bury him if he ever hurt Isaac the way he had her. Alive. Far enough out that no one would be able to hear him screaming.

The smile on her face was terrifying.

Lydia instructed Danny to lock him in the bedroom with Isaac to work it out. Danny’s version of helping was to _shove_ his best friend into the room. He used his foot to do it and he refused to apologise later.

Isaac watched Jackson stumble into the room with tired, glowing eyes. Jackson picked himself up off the floor as the door slammed shut and the two of them were alone. Jackson stared at Isaac for a long time, taking in the bruises and discoloration that covered broken bones. They were healing rapidly, but Isaac had been dealt severe trauma, and it would take time to set him to rights.

Jackson crawled across the floor until he was crouched next to the bed, his own golden beta eyes meeting Isaac’s. His hand crept up to Isaac’s battered cheek and he pressed his palm gently to the curve of what was hiding Isaac’s beautiful cheekbones. Black veins crawled up his arm and Jackson winced as he drew as much pain as he could from the wounded boy.

After a minute Isaac’s hand covered Jackson’s and drew it away from his face. The drain stopped and Jackson whined in distress as the pain filled Isaac’s eyes again.

Isaac squeezed his hand “Hey.”

“Hey” Jackson leaned his cheek on the mattress, his other hand carded through Isaac’s curly hair. “How you feeling?”

“You smell scared” Isaac said.

“I’m not” Jackson said, a stubborn, icy look crossing his face.

Isaac snorted, then winced “Scared. Scared and worried.”

“I -”

“Don’t have to be” Isaac said. He quirked a little smile, really just a little upcurve to the corner of his mouth. “We’re safe here. Family. Home.”

Jackson shivered, his wolf restless hearing those words from Isaac. He knew, instinctively that that’s what the pack was. A family. People who would always want him, no matter how much of a douche he was.

“C’mere” Isaac said softly.

Jackson climbed up onto the bed, careful of Isaac’s hurting form. He crawled over him until he was wedged between Isaac and the wall. He slid his arm around Isaac’s chest carefully, aware of the broken ribs. Isaac let himself sink into Jackson’s arms. Jackson nosed at the back of Isaac’s neck, scenting him. He drew in some more of the pain and settled into the mattress.

“We’re gon’a be ok” Isaac said.

“Yeah” Jackson replied. “We’re gonna be okay.”

\- - -

Grocery shopping for the Stilinski household had changed over the last few months. Stiles had gone from shopping for two (with the occasional addition of Scott) to shopping for four, then six, then there were suddenly thirteen people coming and going from her house at all times of the day and night. Grocery shopping went from a quiet meander through the local Fry’s to a strategic operation involving lists and at least one other person.

She had Danny and Erica with her that night (it was their turn). She’d given them each a list, they’d all grabbed a cart and headed into the store like they were on a military op. They’d all gone their separate ways, because Stiles had divided the store equally. Erica was after frozen and canned goods, Danny after non-perishables and snacks, Stiles was after produce, bread, meat, ect.

She was standing by the banana display wondering how many she would have to buy in order for them to survive long enough to make banana bread when she heard it. Somewhere in the frozen section Erica was snarling like she’d been cornered and didn’t quite know what to do. Somewhere farther off there was a loud crash and more snarling. Danny. Stiles forgot about the bananas and her cart, her eyes flashing as she turned to help her packmates.

She didn’t get very far.

Gerard Argent and three of his minions were surrounding her. How had she not heard them? How had she not _smelt_ them?! Stiles snarled, eyes flashing as her fangs dropped and her claws extended.

Gerard tutted “Now, now, wouldn’t want all these potential witnesses to see anything, would we?”

Stiles growled “All they’re gonna see is an old man and his lackey’s assaulting some kids. One of which is the Sheriff’s daughter. Mighty ballsy of you to try this in public.”

“Not really. You see, you’re going to cooperate.”

“I am?”

“Oh, yes” Gerard gave her a nasty grin and gestured down the aisles toward the bread. Stiles followed his gaze in time to see three men heading through the employees only doors, one of them had an unconscious Erica slung over his shoulder.

Stiles tensed up “Let her go.”

Gerard gave her a nasty look “Why? I have the upper hand.”

Stiles paused, eyeing him as she strained her ears. The fight Danny was in could no longer be heard. That was either a good thing, or a very, very bad thing.

“Think about it” Gerard said. He looked like he was enjoying this just a little bit too much. “If you come quietly I won’t kill your friends… Well, not right away.”

Stiles met his gaze, her own eyes icy “You want our Alpha.”

“I knew you were smart” Gerard praised. “You’re the bait I want, the other two…”

Stiles knew what he meant. She was the only one Gerard cared about keeping alive right now. If she fought she might be able to get away, but he would kill Erica and Danny and leave them somewhere for the pack to find, cut in half. She would have to trust in Peter to find them in time. In his pathological need for Stiles to be safe and happy and at his side.

“All right” Stiles said. “If you swear not to hurt them.”

Gerard smiled, then gestured her toward the door Erica had been hauled through. Stiles went.

\- - -

A grocery shopping trip for Stiles (so long as she had a list, mind you) usually lasted one, maybe one and a half hours. Depending on who she took with her and whether or not she was restocking the house or just getting more of the everyday things. Three hours after she left with Danny and Erica, Scott took notice of the fact that she was gone. Four hours after and he got worried enough to try calling her. When she didn’t pick up, he panicked and called Peter out at the Hale House.

Isaac was still resting, exhausted after healing that much damage to his body. That meant Jackson was out too, because he wasn’t going to leave Isaac’s side, even if the earth opened up and swallowed them.

That left only Peter and Derek.

Peter left Derek at the house and drove into town. By the time he reached the store, just over five hours had passed. He found Stiles’ jeep in the parking lot. When he went inside he found three abandoned shopping carts, the scent of gun oil and wolfsbane, and a trail that led to the warehouse dock out back. The trail ended in a cloud of exhaust which meant that his betas had been put into a car.

Six hours after the trio had left the house and the Sherrif’s Department had been notified that the Sheriff’s daughter had been snatched. Jeorek abused his privilege as the boss to acquire the footage from the store’s security cameras. What they saw only confirmed what Peter’s senses had told him. Gerard Argent and his lackeys had three members of his pack.

Derek arrived and one look at his uncle told him all he needed to know. Stiles was gone, and the monster that usually lay dormant underneath the wolf inside his uncle was awake. Awake and baying for blood.

The manhunt began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it. Jackson/Isaaac. *pokes the pairing* I'm not really sure about it, but this whole fic is about getting out of my comfort zone and so there it is.
> 
> So here it is, the beginning of the end of Gerard.
> 
> Big thank you to AvengingPhoenix, who helped me over the wall when I got stuck.


	51. Fifty-One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hunt for the missing begins.

**_Fifty-One:_ **

_“He knew that all the hazards and perils were drawing together to a point: the next day would be a day of doom, the day of final effort or disaster, the last gasp.”_

_~ J.R.R. Tolkien ~_

Danny wanted to scream, but all he could muster the energy for was the deep, gasping breaths he was taking. His arms were stretched painfully over his head, his toes just barely brushing the ground. Next to him, Erica was strung up in a similar manner. The were chained to a chain link fence, which was being electrified. The current causing jolts to go through the two wolves, making them jerk and twitch in pain.

Erica was unconscious. Danny was grateful for that. At least one of them didn’t have to watch this. Every time a blow landed, Danny jerked instinctively, wanting to make it all stop. He couldn’t, not like this.

Stiles had been chained to a grate about fifteen feet away. There were two men Danny didn’t know, and Gerard looming over her. Gerard had a cattle prod in one hand, which he was using to periodically electrocute his Pack Mother. The other two were using fists and feet to work Stiles over.

They had been at it long enough that the bruises and cracked bones were starting to take longer and longer to heal.

Movement to one side by the door caught Danny’s attention. He forced his head around so that it was slumped against his other shoulder. It cleared his line of sight to the doorway. What he saw made his want to both snarl and snort. He didn’t have the energy for either.

Matt Daehler was crouched behind a barrel just inside the doorway. He was watching Stiles with a weird expression on his face. He flinched every time a blow landed.

“Tell me what I want to know and I’ll tell them to stop” Gerard was saying in a mild, disinterested tone.

Stiles mustered up the energy to spit a mouthful of blood at him. Danny thought it was strangely funny that the old man didn’t know how many wolves were in the pack. That he couldn’t differentiate between human and wolf when spying on the pack. Of course Stiles wasn’t going to say anything. She would protect them until she died. Danny wouldn’t put it past her to figure out a way to protect them after that too.

Gerard nodded to one of his minions and he loosed a kick to Stiles’ ribs. She grunted in pain and Danny could hear several of her ribs crack. He jerked at the sound, and suddenly he had eye contact with the boy hiding behind the barrel. Matt watched him with wide eyes. He looked like he was searching for something. Danny didn’t care what.

He swung his head back around and closed his eyes. He couldn’t close his ears though, and he flinched as Gerard used the cattle prod again.

\- - -

Peter paced. There was a heaviness to his steps that spelled doom for whoever got in his way. Scott’s eyes followed him from one side of the room to the other, breaking to flash onto Boyd every now and then. Boyd was hunched over the kitchen table, strewn with books.

“Peter.”

Peter stopped moving, a snarl on his face as he turned to Derek, who had appeared in the doorway. He and Jackson had been running a patrol since they had discovered their missing friends.

“Anything?” Peter demanded.

Derek shook his head “No. Whatever magic he’s using, it’s too strong.”

Peter’s eyes flashed red. They flickered around the room before they settled on Boyd “Emissary?”

Boyd sighed and closed the arcane book he had his nose buried in. One of many in the last few hours “I can’t find anything.”

A complicated expression went over the Alpha’s face, settling into an ugly expression that made Derek tense up as he recognized the creature that had killed his sister. He intercepted his Alpha, setting his shoulder into the older man’s chest and locking his arm around him when he lunged at Boyd.

Boyd leapt up, backing away. He was the newest member of the pack, and therefore had the weakest link to the Alpha. Usually any pack bond at all would make an Alpha reconsider attacking someone. In this case Peter was too far gone to notice. Stiles was gone.

“Find something!” Peter howled into Boyd’s face as Jackson appeared to help Derek haul out of the room.

Boyd sat down shakily, pulling a new book toward himself. Scott moved around the table and set a hand on Boyd’s shoulder. The bigger boy tensed up “I’m trying.”

“I know that” Scott said. “So does he.”

“I’ve only been doing this a few weeks, man” Boyd told Scott.

“Yeah” Scott said with a nod. “He’s just freaking out because it’s Stiles.”

“It’s Erica” Boyd replied instantly, a fierce look in his eyes.

“I know that too. It’s also Danny” Scott replied. “Maybe you should call Deaton. Or I could.”

Boyd nodded “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

Scott sat down next to Boyd. He wasn’t the best intellectual mind, but he could study with the best of them when it mattered. He pulled a book toward himself as Boyd picked up his phone and scrolled through the contacts to call his uncle.

\- - -

Matt couldn’t watch anymore. Between Danny and that blonde girl he had had enough. Watching them beat the absolute crap out of Stiles Stilinski was even worse. Danny was Danny. Everyone loved him. He was a jock, but he was nice. Stiles was like him, an outcast.

He slipped out a side door of the old house that Gerard was using and got in his car. He sat there for a few minutes, his hands shaking as he stared unseeing out the windshield. What had he gotten into? Was he so hell bent on revenge that he was willing to stand back and let innocent people get hurt? He didn’t know what Stiles or Danny or that girl were, but Matt knew that they didn’t deserve what that psychotic old man was doing to them.

When his hands stopped shaking he started the car and pulled away from the curb. He drove around town for a while as he fought with himself. The mechanic had been his target. The first part of his revenge.

Gerard had never said anything about monsters. Or killing people that Matt knew. He had expected… He didn’t know what he expected.

When he stopped the car he stared at the wheel for a few minutes, bucking up his courage. Then, eventually, he got out of the car and made his way to the front door, scuffing his shoes against the concrete of the sidewalk as he went. He stood there in front of the door for a moment, then eventually rang the doorbell.

He stood there holding his breath, clenching and unclenching his hands.

The door swung open. Matt met Allison Argent’s curious gaze “Hi. Is your Dad here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was hard to write. I think I did it justice. Hopefully you guys think so too.


	52. Fifty-Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gerard gets what's coming to him.

**_Fifty-Two:_ **

_“If you place your head in a lion’s mouth, then you cannot complain one day if he happens to bite it off.”_

_~ Agatha Christie ~_

It took two hours between when Matt rang the Argent’s doorbell to the moment Chris dragged the boy through the Stilinskis front door and into the wolf’s den. Argent was loaded for bear, his daughter followed, armed with her bow and several hidden knives. The moment Chris manhandled the terrified Matt into a chair at the kitchen table and ordered him to talk, Victoria was arriving in the neighborhood where Gerard was hiding.

Her job, alongside the men loyal to herself and her husband, was containment tonight. Protect and deter the civilians, keep any of Gerard’s men from escaping.

Peter got angrier and angrier the longer Matt talked. Sensing that his uncle was on the verge of just ripping the boy’s throat out, Derek demanded the location they all knew that Matt had. By the time he stumbled the address out the pack was ready to leave. Four wolves, an Emissary and two hunters left the house prepared for war.

The Sheriff would meet them enroute.

As the front door slammed shut, Matt flinched and he looked around wildly. His eyes lit on Scott, who had moved into the kitchen and was methodically putting together a turkey sandwich. His eyes went to the back door just the other side of the kitchen.

“I wouldn’t” Scott said, looking up at him briefly before he set about finishing the sandwich. He sliced it in half and placed it on a plate with some chips. “You might be able to get past me, but they will catch up with you, and when they do I won’t be held responsible for what Derek will do to you for hurting me.”

“I -” Matt croaked, then went silent as Scott set the plate in front of him.

“Also, Lydia’s on her way here, and she’s scarier than any werewolf you’ll ever meet” Scott told him conversationally. “Eat your sandwich.”

He did.

\- - -

“Sir! Sir!”

“What?” Gerard demanded, looking up from the book he was reading with narrowed eyes.

“It’s here!” Patterson exclaimed, looking a little bit frightened. “The _Alpha_!”

Gerard set his book aside and stood. He followed the other man out of the study and into the front room to peer through the curtains at the darkened street. In the middle of the road, standing in a line were four dark silhouettes. The taller of the two in the middle had glowing red eyes, the other had Beta gold. To the beta’s right stood another beta, taller than both. To the Alpha’s left stood another beta, this one with electric eyes, the eyes of a killer.

“They know we’re here” Gerard said, then grabbed the rifle someone offered him. “Prepare for a fight, it’s either them or us.”

The men around him started moving. Loading weapons and taking up positions. Gerard stood stationary by the window, watching the four werewolves out in the street. They were outnumbered two to one. Gerard’s men were all seasoned hunters, all loaded with bullets and knives made specifically to down a werewolf. They had given up the element of surprise.

Out in the street the Alpha threw back his head and _howled_. He howled long and loud and chilling. Then he _transformed_ as his betas all answered the call to arms their Alpha had just issued. Gerard watched with mild interest as the beast hit the ground on all four paws. Huge and black and snarling with demonic eyes.

Down the basement, two weaker howls rose up in response to their Alpha’s fury.

Gerard chambered a round and set the weapon to his shoulder. This was it.

\- - -

They slipped in the back door. All three of them were human, so the protections on the house were useless. Allison climbed through the small window into the bathroom on the second story via the roof. Her job was to use stun arrowheads and her stun gun to take out anyone using the upper story as a sniper’s perch.

Down below the goal of Chris and Jeorek was to get to the basement and back out again with the three kidnapped wolves. They could only hope as they paused, pressed against the walls of the kitchen across a short hallway from the steps to the basement, that Peter and the pack would be enough of a distraction to get back out again.

Allison crept down the dark hallway, readied her stun gun just outside the first bedroom. She crouched in the darkness.

Downstairs, the two fathers exchanged a grim nod.

Outside Peter howled.

Allison lunged around the corner and fired, sending enough volts through the man at the window to make him pee himself. She hurried into the room to disarm the rifle, then slipped back out. Downstairs a window shattered and gunfire erupted as the wolves charged the house.

Chris threw himself around the corner, aiming at the doorway into the front of the house as Jeorek bolted for the staircase. The clatter of his footsteps as he headed down was covered by the noise of gunfire and the snarls of the pack.

Chris was meant to guard the top of the steps so that Jeorek couldn’t be snuck up on, but he couldn’t bring himself to stay there as he clicked the safety off his .45 and headed into the depths of the house. It was, after all, his father who was responsible for all of this.

\- - -

The front door crashed down out of its frame, the hinges giving under the weight of the Alpha werewolf. It hit the ground with an ear popping thud just as the front window and the window in the next room over shattered under the weight of the two beta’s that threw themselves through them.

Isaac darted past Peter, aiming for where he could smell his packmates. His job was to help get the others out. A scream erupted to the side and Jackson rose, throwing a hunter over his head, out onto the lawn, bloody and unconscious. In the other room, Derek roared, and Peter followed the furious sound.

His nephew had found Gerard.

\- - -

Isaac slipped past Chris as the hunter entered the fray. He bolted down the steps and crashed into the barrel at the bottom of the stairs. When he straightened what he saw made him shudder. Danny and Erica were chained to a piece of fencing on one side of the room. Jeorek was dismantling whatever it was that was causing the hum of electricity. The Sherrif was shaking, pale.

Slumped over on the other side of the room, shackles holding her up, was Stiles. She was bloody, bruised. Hurt enough that it was taking a while to heal. Isaac went to her first, using all the strength he could muster to break her free of the chains. She slumped over onto him as she was freed. Isaac cradled her carefully as he watched the Sheriff set about getting Danny and Erica down one by one. Both of them were awake. Hurting, exhausted, but awake.

Jeorek helped Erica over to a folding chair then headed for Isaac, taking the blond boy’s place as a support for his child. He swung her up into his arms as Isaac threw Danny’s arm over his shoulder and the group headed for the stairs.

\- - -

There was nothing, _nothing_ , that was going to stand between Peter and his mate. No hunters, no guns, nothing. Between the two Argents and his two betas he was free to go right for the head of the beast. He took two bullets to one shoulder as he streaked through the house. Gerard swung his weapon up and around, firing as the giant wolf threw itself at the man.

The old man never hit his target as he was brought down the ground, the Alpha’s jaws locked around his shoulder, his claws digging into his chest. Derek bodily checked a scrawny looking guy into the wall repeatedly, then turned to watch the room warily as Peter took care of the problem that had been dogging their steps for weeks.

Gerard groaned, Peter snarled and gnashed his teeth.

That was how Chris Argent found them. Derek bloodied, but at the ready. His father savaged by a snarling wolf. He stood there, watching for a long minute as his father bled out before him. It would serve him right, he thought as Peter let go of Gerard and he slumped to the floor. His father would die, either he would bleed to death, or the bite would take and Chris would put him down.

_“Peter.”_

Chris didn’t hear the softly murmured word as he crossed the room to stand over Gerard, but both Peter and Derek did. Their heads swiveled around and they moved out of the room. Chris made his way to his father and crouched down next to him. They stared at each other for a few moments, then Chris raised his gun to Gerard’s temple.

And fired.

\- - -

Peter transformed back to human as he and Derek headed for the entryway of the house. When they got there, Danny was leaning heavily on Jackson, and Isaac was handing Erica over to Boyd, who had followed the wolves into the house. Jeorek was on the ground, cradling Stiles who had come to.

Peter hit his knees next to them, and Jeorek gave his daughter into Peter’s keeping.

The Alpha breathed her in. As he did the black abyss swirling around his mind began to ebb and the light began to shine. The bond between them strengthened again, and he was able to give her some of his own energy to aid in her healing. Her arms came up around him and they held on tightly for a few minutes. Then Peter pulled Jeorek into the huddle briefly, embracing the man who had very quickly become father like to most of them.

Eventually (after a touch to the shoulder from Derek) Peter stood, helping Stiles stand as well. He locked his arm around her waist and she let him hold her close as the pack and the two Argents exited the house.

Chris and Allison met Victoria at the street to begin the cleanup.

“Peter?” Stiles asked as they went.

“Yes, love?” Peter replied.

_“Clothes.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there you have it. The end of Gerard as we know it. I hope I did it justice.
> 
> Lots more to come. Some quiet werewolfy fluffies, then we're heading into 3A territory. I'm still not sure if I'm going to touch 3B with a 49 1/2 foot pole though. We shall see.
> 
> Big thank you to AvengingPhoenix for beta, for encouragement. For being the very best friend a girl can ask for.


	53. Fifty-Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life moves on in Beacon Hills: A Narrative.

**_Fifty-Three:_ **

_“It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them.”_

_~ Agatha Christie, An Autobiography ~_

A week after the kidnapping the Argents left for the south of France where they would spend the rest of the summer. They took Matt Daehler with them after convincing his parents that it would be a great opportunity for him to really work on his photography. It wasn’t an easy sell, but Chris wasn’t about to let the boy out of his sight. Victoria wasn’t thrilled, but she understood her husband’s reasoning.

With the exit of the hunters and the weird kid that had been somehow pulled into helping Gerard, the wolves relaxed. For the first time since the fire Peter and Derek no longer felt the need to look over their shoulders.

It was nice.

Halfway through the summer Stiles, Lydia, Erica and Melissa all went dress shopping for the wedding at the beginning of August. They found a gorgeous floor length sheath dress for Melissa and a pretty plum dress for Stiles. They bought matching ties for Scott and Jeorek and then they all went to lunch.

Scott and Stiles entered a radio station contest to try to win a trip to Hawaii. They spent an entire day performing a series of increasingly ridiculous tasks involved in a town wide scavenger hunt. Stiles ate four large watermelons (thank goodness for her werewolf metabolism), six of Mae’s half pound burgers, and three pies from the bakery on Fifth. Scott ran down Main Street in his boxers and a Superman cape, fished a jar filled with marbles out of the fountain in front of city hall, and convinced Deputy Markham to give him one of his uniform shirts.

They won, much to everyone’s surprise, and presented their parents with a wonderful, fully paid for honeymoon.

Boyd split his time between his lessons with Deaton and Erica. Erica was spending less and less time at home. Her father’s arrest all those months ago had wrecked her mother. She wasn’t handling the stress of her husband using his position at the insurance company to cover up the Hale fire. She had taken to going out to bars and clubs with her friends. As a result Erica spent more and more of her time with the family she had found with the pack.

Boyd’s sisters loved their big brother’s new girlfriend.

With the decrease in action Jeorek and Melissa both got onto a more regular schedule. The McCalls officially moved into the Stilinski house. They put the McCall house on the market and told Scott that if he brought them a thousand dollars by the end of the summer they would use some of the money from the sale to help him get his first car.

Scott and Stiles shared a room for about a week before their late night antics frustrated Jeorek so much that he made Derek and Scott trade. Derek was weird for a few days the first time he found some of Stiles’ underwear mixed up with his own. She laughed and waved the bra in his face until he fled the room. Scott thought it was hilarious, he’d been finding Stiles’ underwear in his laundry for as long as he could remember.

Jackson and Isaac became one of those couples that was always within five feet of each other. They awkwardly tried to feel their way around their new relationship (much to the amusement of everyone else). Jackson kept trying to get Danny to give him advice, but Danny thought it was kind of funny to watch Jackson try to fumble his way through this. Thankfully for him, Isaac was a forgiving, patient soul.

With Allison gone, Lydia and Danny started hanging out a lot. As the two lone single holdouts they felt the need to spend time together. Everyone one else was paired off. They didn’t begrudge any of their friends their happiness, but they didn’t want to watch it all the time either. Lydia liked to snark an awful lot, but she was still smarting a little from the breakup with Jackson. Danny had horrible taste in men, and his last three exes were either cheaters, liars or both.

They decided to have a guy free summer and made a pact to not worry about finding a boyfriend until at least the fall semester started.

Derek took up a habit of driving around looking for the perfect furniture for the new house. Warehouses, estate sales, antique stores. Stiles liked to poke fun at him about nesting, but really she thought it was kind of cute. Scott went with him sometimes, long drives meant time alone. Scott dragged him to weird restaurants and few sideshow type tourist attractions.

Somehow Peter slowly became Stiles’ ‘nice young man’ according to all the older ladies in town. The Sheriff was the most beloved lawman Beacon Hills had ever had. Therefore his life was one of the most talked about topics of gossip. Peter had had everyone’s sympathy due to the version of the Hale story everyone had. Jeorek being okay with Stiles dating a much older man had been a spot of contention.

Mrs. Reynolds, who lived across the street from the Stilinskis and ran the local bingo ring was the font of all wisdom when it came to the suddenly very busy household. Betty was willing to tell anyone and everyone that asked (and some that didn’t) about the Hales and the Stilinskis and the McCalls. Through her all and sundry came to know what a gentleman that Peter Hale was. Always willing to help with her groceries. Always so gentle with Stiles. That Derek boy was a nice young man too. Scott McCall had gotten himself quite the catch with that, according to Betty.

According to Mae from the diner the Sheriff taking in that young Isaac Lahey was the best thing to ever happen to that poor young man. Mae was also the one to go to if you wanted information on the Sheriff’s upcoming wedding. Stiles and Scott spent entire afternoons in the diner hashing out the details. Mae once recalled (with a lot of enthusiasm… to her entire knitting circle) about the three hours the Sheriff sat in a booth across from his children (boxed in by Lydia Martin) with a tortured expression on his face. The two badgered him about colors and flowers and how many guests while his expression got more and more constipated looking.

Mae’s impression left a little bit to be desired when she imitated the Sheriff saying _“Kids. I will marry your mother any day of the week at any time of day and I will wear whatever you want to if you’ll just stop the torture.”_

Tabitha Wilcox was a mother of four (all under twelve) and owned the town’s lone scrapbooking and hobby store. She’d been employed by Stiles and Melissa to design and print all the announcements for the wedding. After she finished raving to everyone about the elegant design they’d picked she told them all that it was going to be a family only affair and they were sending announcements out only because they didn’t want to offend any of Melissa’s long distant family.

Stiles laughed about it a lot. She and Scott had long since learned to be immune to the gossips in town who liked to keep tabs on them because of their parents. The hospital staff did it to Scott, the Sheriff’s Department (and all the ladies that thought Jeorek was a dish) did it to Stiles.

Peter didn’t let it bother him that much. His inner possessive was actually pretty happy that the entire town knew that he and Stiles were together. That the Sheriff approved. It made deterring the boys and young men away from Stiles easier. (Stiles thought that was funny too.)

All in all, life after Gerard was was pleasant for the pack. It was nice according to Stiles early one morning when Jackson made a snide comment that made Lydia hit him as hard as she could with the book she was reading.

For the Hale Pack and Beacon Hills, life went on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I needed happy silly stuff. So I present to you an entirely narrative chapter of life after Gerard. ^_^
> 
> I hope you liked it.
> 
> Big thank you to AvengingPhoenix, beta extraordinaire and my person cheerleader.


	54. Fifty-Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hales move, the McCalls move. A symbol appears on a front door.

**_Fifty-Four:_ **

_“It is dangerous to exist in the world. To exist is to be threatened. We must live with threats.”_

_~ Adam Levin, The Instructions ~_

By the end of June the Hale House was rebuilt and Derek (with some strong opinions from Peter) had furnished the place. Peter came home one afternoon with far too many cardboard boxes and a color coding plan. That Stiles ixnayed and just told everyone who was moving to just write their names on all their boxes.

Isaac spent a day or two wandering around the house in a worried daze until Jeorek pulled him into his side, told him it really was okay that he wanted to move in with Peter and Derek and gave him a noogie. The Sheriff knew that Isaac didn’t want to upset him because he had taken him in after his father.

“Stop being a boob” Stiles said before she shoved a pile of boxes into Isaac’s chest. “You’re still family no matter where you live.”

Isaac grinned at her, blew a raspberry and then tromped up the stairs to pack.

Over dinner that night Melissa and Jeorek announce that since the Hales were moving out, that it was time for the McCall’s to move in. After Scott and Stiles finished their victory dance they finished spaghetti night with a movie in the living room. The next day the two teens took all the extra boxes to the McCall house to start packing. It would take longer to decide what to bring, what to donate, what to sell. They had an entire house to pack up.

Over the weekend the boys moved out of the Stilinski house. It was suddenly so much quieter and Stiles had a hard time with it. Jackson jokingly called her an empty nester (which got him slapped upside the head), but it wasn’t too far off the mark. Her wolf didn’t like having so much of her pack gone.

That feeling quickly went away because despite the Alpha moving out, everyone was still in and out of the Stilinski house. Being Pack Mom had its benefits. Peter, Derek and Isaac still ended up eating dinner there three to four times a week.

On a Monday at the end of June Melissa got an offer on the house and Scott was so surprised when the realtor stopped by that Derek had to duck an ice cream cone to the face. Two days later and the pack was hauling furniture and boxes out of a rented van in the Stilinski’s driveway.

“Scott, I swear on my jeep that if you try to lift on more box -”

Scott threw his hands in the air “What?”

“Step away from the van” Melissa said. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you wheezing this morning.”

“Mom, I’m fine!”

“Humor me” Melissa said to her son. “Go unpack your room or something.”

Stiles’ head popped out of an upstairs window “Scottie!”

Scott shaded his eyes as he peered up at the window “Yes sister?”

On the porch Melissa rolled her eyes. As the wedding got closer the two teenagers got more and more excited and the move had induced a giddy sort of exuberance and they were getting a huge kick out of calling each other brother and sister.

“Get up here oh brother, my brother, and help me put together your bed.”

“You’re the super strong one” Scott said back with a grin that Melissa recognized as meaning pure mischief. “You can handle it.”

Something sailed out of the window and landed on Scott’s head. Everyone laughed as Scott pulled a sweater off his head. He threw it at Erica who was sitting on the trunk of Melissa’s car laughing at him.

“Scott, go help your sister” Melissa cut in before the play fight could turn into a war. “Stiles back inside the house. Erica, Boyd, why don’t you guys go down to Golden Gate and get enough Chinese food to feed seven werewolves and four humans.”

“Lydia’s coming over later!” Stiles called as she disappeared back into the house.

“Oh, excuse me, five humans” Melissa corrected with an amused smile as she dug her wallet out of her purse and handed her debit card to Boyd. Erica dragged her boyfriend down the driveway to his car. Derek and Peter came out of the van hauling Melissa’s mother’s china hutch.

Melissa quickly opened the screen door and let them walk past. She was enjoying this move more than any other she’d ever been through, she hadn’t had to do any heavy lifting at all. It was nice having all these super strong werewolves about to move all the heavy things. She let the screen door swing shut behind the Hales and sat back down in the lawn chair she’d dragged out onto the porch with her.

After all, someone had to make sure the weighted screen door got opened in a timely manner.

\- - -

Someone decided that grilling at the Hale House for the fourth of july and then heading to the lookout to watch the fireworks was a great idea. No one could remember who or why, all Stiles knew was that she had gotten stuck doing the shopping for it. Isaac and Scott were both working at the clinic that day. Jeorek and Melissa had both taken early shifts that day so that they could be there. Jackson was with Danny at the Mahealanis annual luau. Boyd had dragged Erica into looking after his sisters with him. Poor Lydia was stuck at the country club with her mother for the afternoon. Derek and Peter had taken a ride up the coast to meet with a potential client.

So Stiles had gone to the grocery store. She had almost gotten into a bout of fisticuffs with Mrs. Geletti over watermelons and then spent twenty minutes waiting in the checkout line listening to Mrs. Jensen argue over the phone about the different kinds of steaks.

The jeep rolled to a stop and Stiles fell out in her usual graceful manner (like a baby giraffe, shut up). She opened the back and grabbed a few bags before she headed for the stairs. She jingled her keys as she switched from the jeep key to the key she had been given to the house.

When she looked up she froze.

Painted on the front door was a weird symbol that was maring the nice deep blue paint. Stiles frowned and reached out to brush her fingers over the black symbol. The paint was still tacky. She turned warily, inhaling as deeply as she could as she set down the bags and peered out at the trees with her beta eyes.

Another wolf had been here. At least one, possibly two. The scents were intermingled, similar but different. Stiles didn’t know these wolves.

After scanning the treeline and not seeing anyone Stiles picked up the bags, went into the house and called Peter. As soon as he picked up the phone she said “You and Derek need to get back home now. There’s a strange symbol painted on the door and I smell at least two strange wolves.”

 _“On our way”_ Peter replied instantly.

Stiles sighed and hung up. She then decided to go with her instincts and went back out to get the rest of the groceries. Whoever the strange wolves were, they hadn’t been here in a couple of hours. She felt safe enough to go about her business while she waited for her Alpha to get there.

What else could she do?

\- - -

“Well, that’s not good” Peter said as he, Stiles and Derek stood in the yard looking at the front door.

“Nope” Derek said, then heaved a sigh.

“What does it mean?” Stiles asked.

“It’s a warning” Peter replied. “Or a challenge, depending on how you look at it.”

Stiles laced her fingers through Peter’s “A warning about what? From who.”

Derek and Peter looked at each other with serious eyes. “Alphas” Peter said.

“A whole pack of them” Derek said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun...


	55. Fifty-Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer moves forward. The threat of the Alpha Pack looms over everyone.

**_Fifty-Five:_ **

_“Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.”_

_~ Rabbi H. Schachtel, ‘The Real Enjoyment of Living’ ~_

Peter isn’t as mad as he could be. With all the upheaval of the last few months the fact that Beacon Hills has caught the attention of a pack like this. He’s actually surprised that they haven’t heard from any of the packs in the Pacific Northwest. He knows there’s one just over the border in Oregon. He’s heard rumors about Alpha Packs before. Old stories his grandwolves had told to scare the cubs at pack gatherings.

Derek remembered the old stories somewhat. Peter used to tell them to him, Cora and Matthew when they were cubs. Derek remembered Laura pretending to be too old for scary stories, and he remembered huddling under the covers, Cora clinging to his side when he held Matthew in his arms as they all watched Peter with big eyes. Laura used to inch around the corner and scoot closer to the bed until Talia caught them all up past their bedtimes.

Derek also remembers the fights that Talia and Peter used to have. Talia was off at college when Peter was born, a surprise to their parents. Their father was preparing to hand the reins of the pack over to Talia at the time. When she came home she did it with a mate and a baby of her own. Peter was two. Talia took over the pack, things changed. She treated Peter more like a wayward stepchild than her brother, and Peter had always resented that.

Not to mistake it, Talia was a good Alpha. Strong and sure and kind. Peter was raised beneath her rule by their parents, but was too young to really bond with her in the way of siblings. They hadn’t really known what to do with each other.

Stiles doesn’t really care either way. It was the Fourth of July and they were grilling and anyone wanting to stop her from enjoying one too many hot dogs and watching fireworks was going to deal with her and her father’s gun collection. Peter and Derek run a perimeter until the pack starts arriving and then they enjoy the evening like they were planning to.

They end up watching movies after the fireworks. Erica and Jackson fight over what movie to watch. Everyone shoots it down when Lydia suggests _‘The Notebook’_. They’ve all seen it one too many times due to her overruling the vote. They watch _‘Iron Man’_ instead and Scott, Stiles and Isaac share high fives in victory.

It turns into a puppy pile very quickly and this time even Jeorek and Melissa are involved because they fall asleep on the new loveseat.

In the morning while Melissa teaches an interested Danny and Isaac how to flip the perfect pancake, Stiles makes her way out front in one of Peter’s shirts with a paint brush and the leftover paint. She closed the door behind her a pried the lid off the gallon can and dipped her brush into the blue paint.

“What are you doing?”

She looked up at the man sitting on a porch chair with a mug of tea and book. She smiled at Peter who smiled back and quirked an eyebrow.

“Just because we’re under some new threat” Stiles said, waving her paintbrush. Little drops of blue dripped to the porch and she quickly put brush to wood to prevent more drips. “Doesn’t mean we have to live with the reminder.”

“I meant” Peter said, setting down both mug and book and rising. He walked toward her and settled in behind her, hands on her hips. “What are you doing in my shirt?”

Stiles smiled as she painted “You like it when I wear your shirts.”

“Mmm” Peter said into her neck, watching as she painted over the ugly black symbol on the door. “You’re going to get paint all over it.”

“Am not” Stiles protested.

“Are too” Peter replied.

Stiles swiped at him. With the wrong hand. Paint went down the side of the Alpha’s face, across the shoulder of the shirt and dripped down the front. Stiles turned and stared. “Oops.”

Peter blinked and gave her an incredulous look “Really?”

Stiles hid the paintbrush behind her back and tried to smile innocently. Peter huffed and rolled his eyes. There was nothing at all innocent about Stiles’ innocent look. He pressed a blue kiss to her forehead and opened the door to go was off. “Keep the shirt.”

Stiles grinned and went back to painting as soon as the door shut. She got a little carried away and ended up repainting the entire door. Eventually she headed back into the house and to the kitchen to wash up and steal herself some pancakes.

“Uh, Stiles?”

“Yep?” Stiles asked, looking up at Scott.

Scott gestured at his forehead with his fork “Did you know you’ve got blue lips on your forehead?”

\- - -

Three days later and there is still no sign of any strange werewolves. Everyone goes back to their summer routines. Lydia decides that a shopping trip to San Francisco is imperative to her back to school wardrobe. She asks (read: threatens) Stiles and Erica to go with her. While Stiles wouldn’t mind the road trip, she’s fine with her wardrobe. She tells Lydia that unless she wants all of her clothes replaced with hoodies and graphic art tees, she’ll leave her out of it.

Erica goes.

Isaac and Scott catch a lot of overtime at the clinic as the true heat of summer really kicks in and they start treating a lot of cats and dogs for dehydration and exposure. Boyd spends a lot of time at the clinic too, he’s determined to learn as much as he can before the Alpha Pack really become a problem. He had felt next to useless when it came to Gerard, and he wasn’t going to let anyone get kidnapped again.

Derek liked working with his hands and building things. Peter’s new business partner Max is easily convinced to hire him onto the construction crew. He very quickly becomes a site manager in the course of the summer.

In mid-July Stiles and Scott invade the county courthouse to convince Judge Connors to preside over the upcoming wedding. They follow him around all day, kidnap his lunch and threaten to form a picket line in the middle of his courtroom. Connors doesn’t really mind the invasion. It keeps him amused through the day and at lunch he calls the Sheriff to say that yes, he’d love to officiate. Jeorek asks him to keep the kids on the ropes for a little while longer and so he does and they leave around four frustrated but victorious.

Melissa has a melt down a few days after that because not only is she getting married in less than three weeks to a wonderful man, but she never thought about inviting her sister. Also, should she send Rafael an announcement? He already knows about the wedding, but would sending him one be like rubbing it in his face?

Maria is the bigger problem though. Scott has an asthma attack that night when she gets mentioned at the dinner table. Stiles met Aunt Maria just the one time when they were really little and she’s pretty sure she’s going to be traumatized over the encounter for the rest of her life. They can’t not invite her though. And where Maria (the nosiest nosy to ever nosy) comes, so does weird uncle Mike and the yappy Teacup Yorkie named Franz.

Jeorek wonders after Melissa makes the phone call (it makes Stiles’ werewolf ears ring) if they’ll be expected to house Maria, her husband and the little dog. Scott and Stiles vociferously vote no and Stiles tells Melissa to use Scott’s asthma as an excuse. No dogs in the house. It’s flimsy because Aunt Maria knows that Scott works for the local vet.

“That’s a stupid idea!” Scott says. “Mom, tell her it’s stupid.”

“Scott” Melissa sighed as she set the phone down. “You and I both know that your Aunt will refuse to stay in a hotel.”

“But you guys are leaving for two weeks the day after” Scott says, puppy dog eyes on to full effect. “ _They might stay that long_!”

Stiles has curled up on the sofa around a throw pillow. She’s peering over the top of it at her father imploringly “Can we stay with Peter and Derek?”

Jeorek’s eyebrows do a little crazy wiggle “Oh yeah, like we’re gonna let you stay with your boyfriends unsupervised.”

“Papa!”

“Dad!”

“What? I’m not allowed to be protective?”

“We lived together for several months” Stiles said. “Nothing happened then.”

Jeorek had to concede that point. He’d both talked to and threatened Peter and Derek individually. He knew that while the two were inevitably going to end up being his sons in law, that nothing would really happen until the two teenagers were officially adults. With Scott’s seventeenth quickly approaching (he was a beginning of August baby) he had nearly a year to come to terms with that.

“Besides, the rest of the pack will be around all the time” Scott said.

Jeorek shrugged at that. The pack was everywhere all the time and he sometimes felt like they were running a halfway house for wayward teenagers. “There’s that.”

Melissa grinned a little and wrapped her arms around Jeorek’s chest. “We would be irresponsible parents if we left them home alone for two weeks. Or so Maria would say.”

Jeorek rolled his eyes “They’re seventeen and have the basics down.”

Stiles raised a hand “Scott’s not allowed near the washing machine.”

“Hey!” Scott protested, climbing onto the couch next to Stiles.

“You turned everything pink last time!” Stiles exclaimed. Scott stuck his tongue out at her.

“Be nice kids or you won’t be able to cuddle your boyfriends for two weeks” Jeorek said, settling onto the couch with Melissa as Stiles turned on the tv.

“Yeah, and you’ll be stuck with Aunt Maria for two weeks” Melissa said with a grin. She took two throw pillows to the face for that, but she threw them back laughing and they settled into a quiet family night.

Half an hour later and Isaac, Peter and Derek arrived with popcorn and twizzlers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the fact that these last few chapters have been super wordy. I'm trying to plot it all out, get them into the new school year and plan a wedding, soooo.... It's turned into a super-narrative conglomeration.
> 
> Up next, wedding bells.


	56. Fifty-Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Aunt Maria, also Wedding Bells. ^_^

**_Fifty-Six:_ **

_“It is such a happiness when good people get together -- and they always do.”_

_~ Jane Austen, Emma ~_

Aunt Maria arrived four days early. Uncle Mike wasn’t with her, but Franz the Teacup Yorkie was. Franz has always been the kind of nervous dog that yaps at everything and pees on the carpets and gets called a ‘poor baby’ when it happens. It isn’t Franz’s fault, it’s all he’s ever known. It doesn’t stop Stiles from growling in an extremely threatening manner the moment Franz goes to lift his leg against her mothers corner display cabinet. She flashes beta gold eyes at him and some fang and sends the little dog yelping into the guest room.

Aunt Maria, Scott explained to Derek and Peter later that night (he and Stiles had fled the house after two hours with her) as they sat around the fire pit, isn’t really _crazy_ so much as she is _resentful_. Maria was the older sister who always felt outshined by her smarter younger sister. In retaliation Maria had gone out and gotten anything she could to be better than Melissa. She was beautiful, married to a big shot LA lawyer, had money coming out of her ears, and the social status of the Hollywood elite.

Melissa was divorced, was a hard working nurse, had a teenager she was raising alone, and Maria still hated her to a certain degree. Melissa surely had less than Maria. There were two things that Melissa had that Maria didn’t, which was the basis for her resentment and behavior. One: she had a child, Maria and Mike had tried for children for years, but hadn’t managed it. Two: Melissa was happy. She was content with her life and didn’t envy Maria anything.

That really rubbed Aunt Maria the wrong way.

So, whenever she visited it she trod all over them, shoved her wealth and status in everyone’s faces. She was a very rich, very angry, very snobbish woman who got along far too well with Jackson’s mother for anyone’s comfort.

Thankfully for everyone involved, no one has to deal with her for any stretch. Melissa and Jeorek had to work. They were scheduled all the way until the day before the wedding because of the two week honeymoon to Hawaii they were going on, courtesy of their children and the local radio station. Scott and Stiles were too busy (more like using it as an excuse) finishing getting ready for the big day.

By the time the morning of the wedding dawned everyone had become sick of tiptoeing around nosy Aunt Maria. She had either been around the Stilinski house (a sanctuary for the entire pack) or around the Hale house, where the wedding was being held. They were originally going to use one of the garden venues in town, but with the new threat they had chosen to change the venue.

They set up a flower covered Chuppa in the garden that Stiles basically took over after Peter brought her there the first time. A few chairs, some twinkle lights in the trees and everyone agreed that it fit Jeorek and Melissa and their want of something simple. Maria loudly disagreed the moment she saw it. She also loudly objected to the fact that the people attending the wedding numbered less than thirty.

Stiles had taken over the kitchen. She had spent hours and hours in the kitchen with her mother, then hours and hours cooking for her father and then the pack. She had decided halfway through the planning that her father and Melissa deserved a big beautiful cake (mostly so that Stiles could eat it). After discovering how much a big fancy cake would be she bought a bunch of books and decided to bake one.

If her ADHD was good for anything, it was her ability to obsess over something to no end until she knew everything and anything about whatever it was. It came in spats, but it came.

Scott fled to the kitchen that day and hid behind the abundance of sugar flowers that Stiles had created in the last few days. He was sick of listening to Aunt Maria out in the garden. She had taken to flirting with Peter since they arrived and she found out that he owned the big manor house. Stiles had an angry little pinched look on her face that Scott recognized as the face she usually wore before all hell broke loose.

Last time she wore that look she’d sprinkled itching powder all over the locker room to get back at Jackson. No one on the Lacrosse team had been safe, not even Scott.

“Stiles” Scott said twirling a glaringly purple flower around in his hand before he bit off a petal. “What’s up?”

“What’s up?” Stiles demanded. She glared at the baking pans piled up in the sink. “That woman is hitting on _my mate_.”

“That’s because he’s pretty and has a lot of money” Scott said reasonably. This kind of thing was his Aunt’s MO. “She’d be hitting on Derek if he was here. My boyfriend’s younger than yours.”

Stiles shot him a sideways look and shook her spatula at him “I’m not calling that woman my Aunt. You can’t make me.”

“Awww, don’t make me suffer by myself!” Scott said, starting in on another flower. He was basically charging up on pure sugar, and he was okay with that.

“This house is absolutely stunning, really.”

Both Scott and Stiles looked over at the doorway leading to the main hallway of the house. Maria came through the door clinging to Peter’s arm. A subsonic, angry growl erupted from Stiles at the sight. Peter met her gaze and his eyes flashed red briefly in response. Stiles’ wolf was possessive, nearly as possessive as Peter’s.

“Thank you” Peter said, smiling in a way that most people would think was charming, but the pack all knew was polite with a side order of homicidal. “We’ve just finished rebuilding.”

“And you’re an architect?” Maria asked as she took a seat at the flower covered table. Scott shrunk down a bit in an attempt to try and hide.

“Yes” Peter said genially as he walked around the counter to set the kettle on for tea. “I understand your husband is a lawyer?”

“Yes” Maria said. Her gaze caught Scott and her expression went all judging. Scott slouched in his chair and lowered the flower he’d been about to take a bite out of.

Peter pressed a kiss to the side of Stiles’ head as he passed her. She made a sound of protest “I may be covered in baking ingredients but that doesn’t excuse you buster.”

Peter smiled again, this time genuinely and kissed her properly. Scott pretended to throw up and grinned brightly at his sister when she glared. Maria went silent and her eyes followed the two of them for the rest of the afternoon, silently judging.

\- - -

The ceremony was beautiful. The Sheriff wore a formal tux with a blue silk tie and kept complaining to Scott about how uncomfortable he felt. Scott was standing as best man for Jeorek and couldn’t help making penguin jokes in reply.

Only a few of Melissa’s closest coworkers were there. Fellow nurses that had been friends with her for years. A few of Jeorek’s deputies were there to represent the Sheriff’s Department at the ceremony. The entire pack was there, and Judge Connors.

Stiles walked with Melissa as her maid of honor in a pretty blue summery dress that Lydia had had a hand in choosing. Melissa wore a stunning sheath in while with a nice floral lace overlay. Her hair was down with a spray of white orchids placed in it. She was radiant and beaming all the way to the altar.

Jeorek and Melissa faced each other under the Chuppah and smiled at each other through the entire ceremony. Stiles and Scott traded a silly face when she reached her spot, but they beamed just as much.

Afterward everyone ate too much cake (except for Derek, who stayed away after the last time) and had a good time. Scott showed everyone and anyone he could (some of them multiple times) after the paperwork was signed that he was now officially a Stilinski too. He threw himself into Derek’s arms in excitement, waving the documents around.

Stiles made all the boys dance with her at least once. Danny did it several times and then Erica insisted that she get to dance with Stiles too. Peter swung her around to a waltz, then Melissa. Scott danced with his mother and Stiles with Jeorek.

Maria hid it well, but she fumed through the entire thing. The wolves could tell, their enhanced senses came in handy like that. Melissa was happy. The happiest Maria had ever seen her. She left the reception early claiming a headache and no one was really all that surprised when she left early the next morning.

The pack had all pooled together to get the newlyweds a hotel room for the night, so they left together after the sun had gone down. The guests left shortly after and the pack all crashed in the living room to watch a movie.

In the loveseat Scott hiccuped and got shushed. Derek threw a pillow at Erica when she laughed. Boyd snorted and threw it back. Danny intercepted it midair and then climbed onto the couch and sandwiched himself between Isaac and Stiles.

Stiles curled up next to Peter and fought with Isaac over a blanket for a minute until Jackson complained about Isaac’s elbows hitting him in the stomach. They ended up sharing the blanket, occasionally poking each other with their toes.

“Good day?” Peter whispered in her ear.

“Great day” Stiles replied.

“Good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, idek. I was going to write out a big pretty ceremony with vows and everything... but no. It would not come and I didn't want to be super cheesy.
> 
> Hope I didn't disappoint anyone.
> 
> Anyway, we've come to the end of the summer and will now be heading into the new school year and the Alpha Pack will make its first appearance... Along with a certain teacher.


	57. Fifty-Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of school.

**_Fifty-Seven:_ **

_“The difference between school and life? In school, you’re taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you’re given a test that teaches you a lesson.”_

_~ Tom Bodett ~_

Stiles and Scott didn’t get much sleep the night before school restarted. Howling started up in the preserve around the Stilinski house around ten that night and just didn’t stop until the very early hours of the morning. Stiles didn’t recognize the voices. A call to Peter confirmed her suspicion. The Alpha Pack was in Beacon Hills and officially announcing its presence. There had been howling outside the Hale house as well. The two places that were most definitely pack territory in town.

Peter theorized that the Alpha Pack wants them to chase them, so they all stay put until morning.

The result was a grumpy Scott that nearly met the pavement when one of his untied shoelaces got caught in the door of the jeep and he flailed around for balance for a minute before his shoe came off. One wet sock and an attempt to kill Erica later and Scott had managed to make it to his very first class of the year. He flopped down next to Isaac with a grunt.

Stiles managed to nail herself in the forehead with the edge of her locker despite her advanced reflexes. She was tired enough that she stared stupidly at into her locker for a second before the delayed ‘ow’ made it out of her mouth. Danny patted her on the shoulder and then pointed. Her gaze followed his and she smiled for a second before she realized what she was seeing. Matt Daehler was back and walking next to Allison like he hadn’t been in league with the guy that had tried to kill them all.

Danny loudly vocalized his protest as soon as he noticed that Allison and Matt were _holding hands_. That was not okay. Danny was not okay with the idea that someone who was fairly close to the pack was dating a guy like that. Stiles was a little more pragmatic, well, she was about the fact that Matt was back. She had figured that might happen.

The dating thing was a surprise though. She wondered if Allison knew that Matt was a stalking stalker who had spent most of last semester taking creepy photos of Allison. She’d have to ask her.

Her forehead was completely healed by the time she flopped into her chair in english between Scott and Lydia. She and Lydia exchanged greetings and then raised eyebrows when Allison and Matt came into the class. They would be having a conversation with Allison about this.

“The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leaning to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed sombre under an overcast sky -- seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness.”

Everyone turned to watched a tall, dark haired woman enter the classroom. She was reading off her phone. She finished just as she reached the front of the classroom. She faced the class and smiled a little “That is the last line of your first reading assignment.  ‘ _Heart of Darkness_ ’ by Joseph Conrad is just one of many fantastic works of literature we will be covering over the course of this year. My name is Ms. Blake, and ladies and gents, that is the last text you will receive in my class. Phones off, all of you.”

“What happened?” Stiles whispered to Lydia as she dug out her phone to turn it off.

“Prada bit me last night” Lydia said with a sigh, smoothing her skirt over the bandage on her leg. “I was trying to get her to come inside when the howling started.”

Stiles’ eyebrows turned together “You could hear it? I thought it was just around my place and the Hales.”

“It was… I couldn’t hear anything, but dogs have sensitive hearing. I think she may have heard it. Besides, bad things happen in threes. Prada - “

“The deer from the other night” Stiles said, catching on. Lydia, Erica and Stiles had all gone to the movies two nights ago and while they had been stopped at a stoplight a gigantic deer had careened out of the woods and into Lydia’s car. It had freaked all three of them out.

“Stiles I think - “

Something thudded loudly against the window, cutting Lydia off. Both girls jumped and turned to face the window. At the front of the room Ms. Blake was moving toward the window. Another thud as a black object hit the window. A dozen more hit the windows and Stiles realized that they were birds just in time for the glass to break and hundreds of birds to fly through in a scream of feathers.

Lydia screamed, Stiles lunged out of her chair, covering the other girl with her own body. She could heal, Lydia couldn’t. She looked around in time to see Scott tip a desk over and pull Ms. Blake behind it with him.

It was over just as quickly as it started. As they all got to their feet they stared at the dead birds and the scratched up students and the broken glass and Stiles and Lydia shared a wide-eyed, worried look.

\- - -

“Are you guys okay?”

Jennifer Blake looked up from the square of gauze she was holding over a gash on her arm and watched as the Sheriff and several deputies arrived. The man had a tight look on his face as he pulled first Stiles and then Scott into him. Both teenagers protested when their heads knocked together, but they didn’t protest being hugged by the man.

“Dad!” Scott exclaimed in protest, but he was grinning.

Jennifer watched as the Sheriff checked over his kids. She also noted how his eyes sought out several of the other students. Friends of Scott and Stiles.

“We’re okay” Stiles was saying.

“Good” the Sheriff replied, voice a little gruff. “What happened?”

“Birds!” Scott said. “Dozens of them.”

“They flew into the widows” Stiles said. Her brow wrinkled in thought “They were crazed. It was like a scene out of that old Hitchcock flick.”

Jennifer flinched and her attention diverted back to the paramedic in front of her as he went about cleaning the cut on her arm.

\- - -

“Okay, explain please.”

Allison blushed as she sat down at the table in the library across from Lydia “Explain what?”

“Matt” Lydia said, rolling her eyes. “Last time I checked he was creepy stalker guy.”

“We spent a lot of time together over the summer” Allison said slowly.

“Duh” Lydia retorted. “What happened?”

“He’s training to be a hunter” Allison said. “Dad’s keeping a really close eye on him, and Mom has taken his education on the Code pretty seriously.”

“Sooo you got all hot and bothered training together?” Lydia prompted brightly.

“Something like that” Allison said, studiously not looking at her friend. “Do you think Stiles and Peter will be against it?”

“It isn’t the Alpha pair you’ve got to worry about” Lydia told her, flipping open one of her books so that she looked busy as she eyed the two boys that had just come into the library. They were new, she’d have remembered them if they weren’t.

“What do you mean?”

Lydia met Allison’s gaze and held it until she was sure that Allison realized the seriousness of the situation “It’s Danny.”

“What about Danny?”

“Danny was the only one that was snatched that was awake long enough to remember who was where and doing what” Lydia explained. She had spent a lot of time with Danny this summer as he worked through the kidnapping. Between her and Stiles they had managed to make him understand that there had been nothing he could do at the time, but he was still a very angry Hawaiian. “He saw Matt in that basement, Allison. He’s angry and he’s going to be against Matt just for being there.”

Allison nodded seriously “Should I talk to him?”

“No” Lydia shook her head. “Let him come to you. Your boy should know he’s going to be watched… and punched at least once.”

“Right” Allison had expected convincing the pack that Matt was okay to be difficult. “What are you looking at?”

One of Lydia’s trademark sly looks crossed her face as she smirked at her friend “I want one.”

Allison turned to look and both of her eyebrows raised. Standing by one of the bookshelves were two tall, tawny haired boys. Both with wide shoulders and nice arms. Identical boys with wide shoulders and nice arms. “Which one?” Allison asked with a grin.

“The straight one of course” Lydia replied, making Allison laugh.

Allison turned to look at the twins again as Danny walked past with a grumpy expression on his face. The twin on the left followed Danny’s movements with his eyes. Yep, he was definitely checking him out. Danny gave the boy an initial once over and then a double take. An alarmed look crossed Danny’s face and suddenly the dark haired boy was making his way quickly out of the library.

“What was that about?” Allison wondered.

“Who knows” Lydia shrugged, though she had her suspicions. After what had happened last night, and Danny’s reaction, those two were probably werewolves. Which meant she’d have to stick her idea of having one of them in a drawer. She sighed and went back to her assignment, Allison following her example.

She’d call one of the others later to find out what was going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go. The Alpha Pack appears. Jennifer Blake appears.
> 
> The first big big change is the fact that Ethan can't use Danny because Danny is a werewolf and I didn't think of that before. It doesn't change the plan, just how we get there.
> 
> I've decided we won't be going into 3b. Sorry to anyone who wanted me to, but I'm just not feelin' it.
> 
> Also, I apologize for the delayed update. These last few days life has just kind of kicked my butt. Hopefully things will settle, but there's no guarantee. I will finish this fic though, no worries.


	58. Fifty-Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isaac, the twins, a full moon and more.

**_Fifty-Eight:_ **

_“There are nights when the wolves are silent, and only the moon howls.”_

_~ George Carlin ~_

Isaac was the first wolf of the pack to encounter the twins. He was pulling his calculus book out of his locker when they turned a corner and headed down the hall. Every sense the beta had seized up as they walked toward him. He knew almost instantly that they were Alphas. Peter had the same energy about him when he was in Alpha-mode.

These two seemed to exude not only that certain alphaness, but also a certain amount of menace as well. It made Isaac’s metaphorical hackles rise. He met the gaze of the one that was closer to him as they passed. He watched them walk down the hall uneasily until a hand came down on his shoulder.

“Hey” Isaac spun to look at Jackson and Danny. Jackson was the one who had touched him. He could see the concern in Jackson’s eyes, behind the mask he usually wore in public. “What is it?”

“Alphas” Isaac said, gesturing at the two wolves heading around a corner.

Danny and Jackson both peered over Isaac’s shoulders in an attempt to see what had Isaac so wired. All they could see was the back of two heads vanishing around the corner. Jackson set his hand on the back of Isaac’s neck, pulling him around to face him and grounding him some at the same time.

“Are you sure?” Jackson asked softly. Isaac nodded.

“I’ll find Scott and Stiles” Danny said, let them know. “Jax, you’ve got history with Erica right?”

Jackson nodded “And Boyd.”

“I’ll call Peter” Isaac offered.

\- - -

It took nearly all day for the entire pack to be informed. With the weird bird attack in english and the chaos it created. The pack all played phone tag for a while until later that night when they were gathering out at the Hale house for the full moon.

Several of of the teens had spent a couple of days bemoaning the fact that the full moon fell on the first day of school this year. What they found even worse than that was that there would be no run that night. Peter had decided that with the Alpha Pack finally showing themselves both in the preserve and in school.

Peter wasn’t willing to risk the safety of his pack for anything. If the wolves went for a run, it would leave the human members of the pack vulnerable. If the humans went on the run, it would slow the wolves down if anything were to happen. So the pack would stay in for the first full moon since Stiles was bitten.

“Uh, Scott?”

“Not a word” Scott said instantly, turning a narrow-eyed look on Erica.

She raised her hands in the air defensively “Can we add ‘ _Aladdin_ ’ to the pile?”

“Scott why are you only picking out animated movies?” Danny asked as he came into the living room cradling a giant bowl of popcorn.

“We’re watching happy movies to help keep any homicidal feelings any of you may be feeling at bay” Scott replied. He was clutching about ten dvds to his chest protectively.

Stiles climbed over the back of the sofa and made herself comfortable under Peter’s arm “Sounds good to me. Let’s start with _‘101 Dalmatians’_.”

The two new siblings exchanged a grin and Scott turned back to the tv. Peter just shook his head with a smile on his face, glad he’d thought to bring a book downstairs with him. He looked around himself and the wolf inside him curled up contently. It was amazing that not even a year ago he had been in the hospital, little more than an omega, with no one, no pack, no family. All he could think of then had been revenge.

Then Stiles had happened. He looked down at the top of her head with soft eyes as she poked at Danny’s side with her bare toes. Biting Stiles had probably been the best thing he had ever done, Peter knew. Everything had changed that night out in the woods.

Now Stiles was curled up on the couch with him, teasing Danny and stealing handfuls of popcorn. Erica was draped over Boyd like he was a beanbag chair and not the pack Emissary. Isaac and Jackson were curled up on the floor sharing a bag of chips and twizzlers. Derek was slouched on the loveseat with Scott sprawled across him and the rest of the small couch eating M&Ms. Lydia was curled up in the armchair with one of her advanced mathematics books propped open and a notebook in her hands.

“Stop thinking so hard” Stiles whispered.

Peter glanced down at her “I’m fine.”

“I know. Worry about the Alpha Pack tomorrow, enjoy pack night now” Stiles said. She settled back into his side after popping up to kiss him. Danny rearranged himself so that he was cuddled up to Stiles with the popcorn bowl propped on his stomach, his legs up on the arm of the sofa.

Peter smiled to himself as he tuned in on the soft conversation floating in from the kitchen where Melissa and Jeorek were sharing a quiet cup of coffee. His pack was safe for now. He reached over and picked up his book and opened it up, settling into the words of Faulkner as spotted puppies danced across the television.

\- - -

Beacon Hills lay quiet, lights twinkling against a backdrop of trees. Above the town a bright, full moon rested heavy against the dark sky, littered with wispy clouds. Watching over the town that had been home to some of her children for generations and probably would continue to be home for many more generations. So long as they could fend off this newest threat.

Deep in the woods of the Beacon Hills preserve five red eyed shadows slipped through the trees on the hunt as the moon shone overhead. Tonight they hunted deer through the trees, tomorrow they would hunt a different sort of prey.

Hale would either join them, or he would die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, okay, so I'm really sorry it took so long to update. I have so much going on that it's been really hard to sit down and write. This chapter is basically filler while I figure out how I want things to go. Hope ya'll like it. ^_^
> 
> It's a bit shorter than previous chapters, but it's better than nothing.
> 
> More soon hopefully. Sooner than this last update I'm hoping *crosses fingers*
> 
> Up next: The Sheriff's Department investigate some murders, and someone goes missing.


	59. Fifty-Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny and Ethan have a conversation. The Sheriff's Department investigates a murder. Someone goes missing.

**_Fifty-Nine:_ **

_"People sometimes talk about the power of first impressions, and believe me, there is truth to it."_

_~ Ann Brashares ~_

Two days after the full moon Danny became the first wolf to interact with one of the twins. He found himself staying late to work on research for his new pet science project. As the sun began to set through the high library windows he realized just how late it was getting. He cursed and quickly started packing his things. His mother was expecting him to be home for dinner, and he was under strict orders from Peter to not let himself get stuck in a situation where he could be found vulnerable.

Like being the last person at school as it got dark outside.

When he reached the parking lot he paused in the doorway. Leaning up against the old Honda his parents had helped him buy over the summer was the tall, lean body of a young man. The kind of tall and lean that usually had Danny drooling. However, at that particular moment, the young werewolf recognized the profile of the boy (the werewolf) leaning against the driver’s side door of his car.

This was what Peter had been talking about. Alpha Packs were rare, and from what Peter knew, always dangerous. They had a habit of decimating packs, and they had no idea what this particular Alpha Pack wanted in Beacon Hills. It couldn’t be good. Peter had cautioned them to not get caught alone with one of the strange Alphas.

Danny debated with himself for a moment. Did he continue to his car, put on a front like he wasn’t a little bit afraid of the other wolf? Or did he hightail it for the treeline? The treeline meant safety in woods he’d come to know intimately since he became a wolf, but it was far away, and the other wolf could catch him before he got there.

You don’t run away from from a wolf.

Danny glanced back at his car and his eyes met the softly glowing red ones of the Alpha that was watching him closely. Danny felt his metaphorical hackles rise and his teeth sharpened as he growled lowly. In the fading light of the day, his own eyes flared bright gold.

He headed for the car.

“You seem a little rattled” the Alpha said easily, a smirk on his face as Danny approached.

Danny growled again, an inhuman growl that was pure wolf “Wouldn’t you be?”

The Alpha shrugged and tucked his hands in his pockets like his posture and stance weren’t threatening to the Beta at all. Danny knew better. The Alpha looked at him for a long time. Danny met his gaze unflinching, he’d seen lots of scarier things in his life than this. The rogue that had savaged both him and Jackson. Gerard.

“What do you want?” Danny asked, voice even.

The other boy didn’t answer “I’m Ethan.”

Danny frowned, confused “I’m not playing this game with you.”

Ethan sighed heavily “I can’t want to make friends?”

“No” Danny replied. “Not when you’re an Alpha in my pack’s territory without proper introduction or permission.”

Ethan grinned, all teeth “Someone knows their way around werewolf politics.”

Danny grinned back with a savage edge “I have a good Alpha.”

Ethan frowned at him, then took a deep breath “That’s why I’m here. You need to stay out of this.”

“Excuse me?” Danny demanded. “Did you just try to tell me to abandon my Alpha?”

“You’ll get killed if you don’t.”

“Why do you even care?”

Ethan canted his gaze to the side, looking away from Danny since he got outside “I don’t know. I just feel like you’re mine.”

“Let me tell you a thing” Danny replied, eyes narrowed. “I’m not yours. Never have been, don’t plan to ever be. My Alpha is the only reason why I’m alive. If you think that some imaginary claim you may feel you have on me will make me abandon him, you’re sorely mistaken. My pack is my family, and I will defend it. If that means we have to kill you, your brother, or any of your friends, we will.”

Ethan stared at him “Then you’re going to die. All of you are.”

“We’re harder to kill than you think” Danny replied, then moved to get in the car.

Ethan stepped aside to let him “You think you’re safe? You’re not. We’re not coming, we’re already here.”

Danny started the car and rolled down his window. He met Ethan’s eyes as he said “We’ve never been safe, Ethan. Bring it on.”

Then he drove away. In his rearview he watched Ethan watch him drive away. The other wolf’s twin appeared at his side and they both watched the Honda’s taillights until he turned the corner. Dinner with his mom would have to wait, Peter needed to know about this.

\- - -

Jeorek Stilinski was having a bad day. Anytime a call came in about a dead body, the Sheriff had a bad day. Finding someone dead always meant that you had to inform the family that their beloved son/daughter/wife/ect. was dead. Most of the time in a horrible way. In Beacon Hills that way was usually a horribly grisly way.

“I want everything processed” Jeorek told the deputy at his elbow. “Everything. This has all the earmarks of a ritual murder, so we need to operate like the killer isn’t finished yet.”

“Should we issue a curfew, sir?” Markham asked.

“We can’t. Not yet.” Jeorek sighed “The mayor won’t do it without a good reason, not this close to the last one.”

“Someone was murdered, I’d call that a good reason” Markham replied.

“It’s only one body” Jeorek said. From his tone Markham knew that his boss was telling him what the mayor would most likely say, not what the Sheriff himself thought.

“Do we know who she is?” Markham asked, switching the subject back to the matter at hand.

“Her name is Heather” Jeorek said. “Heather Grant*. She’s a student at Westerman High. Her father’s on the City Council.”

Markham nodded and headed to his squad car. Tara Willis took his place at the Sheriff’s side. She looked a little worn around the edges. She’d been the one to respond to the call, so she’d been on scene the longest.

“She was friends with Stiles when they were little” Jeorek told Tara. “Then they went to different schools and lost touch. They still talk sometimes though.”

Tara pursed her lips “Think it’s got anything to do with our _other_ situation?”

Jeorek eyed her sideways. He’d never told any of his deputies anything about werewolves or anything, but they were all far from stupid. They knew something was going on. They knew that the Stilinskis were in the middle of it all. They also knew that it was all well in hand.

“It might. We can’t rule it out, not with - “ here Jeorek waved a hand at the gruesome scene before them “ - all of that.”

Tara nodded “We’ll keep on it.”

Jeorek nodded “Thanks. I’m going down to City Hall. I’ll let you know what I find out from Mr. Grant.”

“Gotcha” Tara nodded, then watched her boss head for his SUV. As he got into the vehicle she turned back to face the poor girl that had been killed. She couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the Sheriff. His family had been through an awful lot the last six months, and just when things were finally calming down, here came one more thing.

Great way to end your honeymoon.

\- - -

She awoke with an abrupt start. Like she’d been dreaming of falling and just barely woken before she hit the bottom. Only all she could remember was blackness. A clear, angry throbbing went through her body and she groaned, raising a hand to her head.

“You alright?”

Her eyes popped open and she looked up to see a dark haired girl (who’d seen better days) watching her from across the room. She looked around curiously “Where am I?”

“I don’t know. A vault somewhere” the other girl answered with a shrug.

She was right. It looked like a bank vault. “Are we still in Beacon Hills?” she demanded.

“Beacon Hills?” the other girl asked, looking surprised. “I don’t know. I was taken a couple of months ago.”

“Is that how long you’ve been here?”

“Yes.”

“What do they want?”

“I think they want us to kill someone.”

“Why?”

“Since I’ve been here, I haven’t been able to transform. I’ve missed two full moons.”

She stared at the disheveled girl sitting across from her, then realization struck “The Alpha Pack.”

The other girl nodded “I’m Cora.”

Pushing blonde hair out of her face, she tried to smile “Erica. I’m Erica Reyes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * I couldn't find a last name for Heather, so I picked one.
> 
> So here it is. The long belated next addition. Hope it's to everyone's liking. ^_^
> 
> More hopefully sooner than this last update. Life's still got me out on the clothesline, but hopefully you'll get another very soon.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's bearing with me on this.


	60. Sixty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Werewolves, Murders and Mayhem... oh my!

**_Sixty:_ **

_“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow; but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.”_

_~ Agatha Christie ~_

Boyd barges into the Hale kitchen that night with a wild look in his eyes. Peter, Derek and Danny are sitting at the table talking about Danny’s encounter with one of the Alpha twins. The back door slams open, hits the wall with a loud crack and then slams into the doorframe behind the big teen.

“Erica’s missing.”

“What?” Derek demands instantly, standing like he’s expecting to need to rush off instantly.

“She’s gone!”

“Calm down” Peter cut in, voice cool. Boyd nodded and took a deep breath as he was guided to a chair. “Now, tell me what happened.”

“I had to work, so we were going to meet at the Dairy Queen after. She never showed, so I figured she got pulled into something girly by Lydia again. I called Lydia, and she hadn’t seen her since school today. I went by her house and Mrs. Reyes hasn’t seen her since she left the morning. My mom said she hadn’t been by my house either.”

“Did you try Stiles?”

“No. They all went to dinner, so I figured she wouldn’t be there.”

“Open door policy” Danny said, pulling out his phone. The entire pack had unfettered access to the Stilinski house. Many of them had keys and those that didn’t knew where the hide-a-key was. Even if none of the Stilinskis were home, anyone could come in and stay. The house had been considered the pack house for too long for that to have changed since the Alpha moved.

“Something’s wrong, I know it” Boyd said.

“We’ll find her” Derek said. “Nothing’s gonna happen to her.”

“The full moon’s coming up, what if we don’t find her before then?”

“Erica has excellent control, Boyd” Peter said, tone reassuring. The control his beta’s had was a point of pride to the Alpha. “The moon won’t be a problem.”

“What if the Alpha’s have her?” Boyd asked.

“Stiles got home twenty minutes ago, she says there’s no one at the house” Danny said. He looked up from the device in his hand, eyes watching carefully.

“Right. Danny, Boyd, go back to the school, start there. Try to catch her scent. Derek, go get Isaac and Jackson, do a sweep of the Preserve.” Peter rose as he gave out his instructions “I’ll collect Stiles and we’ll do a sweep of the town, we’ll start at the Dairy Queen. I’ll talk to the Sheriff as well.”

Boyd nodded and the two wolves at the table stood up. Peter set his hand on Boyd’s shoulder “We’re going to find her.”

“Right, okay. Yeah.”

“What about the hunters?” Derek asked quietly as Danny and Boyd left the house. “They might be able to help.”

Peter frowned. He wasn’t sure if trusting Argent was a good idea. The man had come through for them more than once, but he’d taken the Daehler boy in and turned him into a hunter. On the one hand, relying on hunters was a dangerous past time that was likely to get one or more them hurt or killed. On the other hand, letting the Argents know that an Alpha Pack had arrived in town would make finding them just a little easier.

“Send Lydia” Peter told his second. “She isn’t a wolf so they’ll be more willing to hear her out.”

Derek nodded “She’s not entirely human though, is she?”

“No” Peter said. Lydia had been showing signs that she was _something else_ all summer. “She isn’t.”

\- - -

“Don’t worry” Erica said softly as she crawled across the floor and pulled the other girl to her. “My pack will find us.”

Cora took the comfort the blonde girl was offering. Her skin was cold and clammy, and she couldn’t stop shaking. “How do you know?”

“Because they’ve found me before” Erica said softly. “Two of my packmates and I were taken by a hunter a few months ago. Peter found us then. He’ll find us now.”

“Peter?”

“My Alpha. Peter Hale.”

Cora looked over at the other wolf with curiosity in her eyes “Tell me about your pack?”

“Well there’s seven of us wolves. There’s Peter, our Alpha and his mate Stiles. Then there’s Derek, Isaac, Jackson and Danny. And me” Erica smiled a bit at that last bit. “Then there’s Scott, he’s Derek’s mate and Stiles’ brother. He’s human. Lydia is human too. Melissa is a nurse and she’s married to the Sheriff, who is Stiles’ dad… Derek calls ‘em the pack - “

“Elders” Cora offered when Erica couldn’t find the right word.

Erica nodded “My boyfriend Boyd is our Emissary.”

Cora sighed with a shaky nod, wondering if she should tell her new companion her full name. “Wait. The Sheriff?”

Erica nodded “The Sheriff of Beacon Hills is in my pack.”

“They’re going to find us?”

“Yes. They are.”

She hoped Erica was right. She longed to feel the moon again.

\- - -

When Derek called her, Lydia was already at the Argent house. She’d woken up that morning with the impression of a strange symbol on her arm and she hadn’t been able to get it out of her head. When she’d gotten to school, Allison had had it on her arm too. It made her wonder if they were crazy, but she quickly dismissed that notion because of all the wacky things that had started to happen in Beacon Hills nearly a year ago. Some of it was bound to rub off on her eventually.

The two girls had agreed to get together that night and research the weird symbol. Lydia wasn’t going to say anything to Peter about it until she had some sort of information about it.

“What is it?”

Lydia hit the end button on her phone and looked over at Allison. Allison had opened a new tab on her laptop and was looking up occult symbols. Lydia liked how smart her best friend was.

“I need to talk to your Dad” Lydia said.

“What? Why?”

“Erica’s missing.”

Allison nodded and led Lydia down to her father’s study. Chris Argent was sitting at his desk, computer open in front of him. Allison knocked on the door frame, making him look up.

“Hey sweetie, what’s up?”

“Lydia needs to talk to you. Formally” Allison said. Chris’ eyebrows went up in surprise. Allison elaborated again “As a representative of the Hale Pack.”

Chris nodded “Okay. Send her in.”

Lydia passed Allison in the doorway. The two friends clasped hands briefly and Lydia sat down primly in front of Chris’ desk. Allison rounded the desk to stand at her father’s shoulder.

“What can I do for the Hale Pack, Miss Martin.”

“Erica Reyes is missing” Lydia said. “No one has seen or heard from her since school let out today. We’re all under strict curfews and instructions to not go anywhere alone if we can help it, so my Alpha is concerned she was taken.”

“By whom?” Chris asked, eyes narrowing. He just knew he wasn’t going to like this.

“It came to our attention in July that and Alpha Pack had plans to come to Beacon Hills” Lydia said. Both Argents straightened up at that. “We had the warning, but no idea when they would arrive or how many of them there would be.”

“And now?”

“They’re here. They arrived the night before school started.”

“The howling” Allison said.

Lydia nodded “Isaac encountered two of them the following day. They’re attending Beacon Hills High.”

“Who are they?” Chris demanded.

“The new Twins” Lydia said. “Aidan and Ethan I think.”

“Do you know anything else about them?”

“No. The twins are the only ones we’ve spotted so far. We still don’t know how many there are.”

“What can we do for the Hale Pack?” Chris asked.

“My Alpha has given me instructions to formally request the aid of the Argents to help us find our missing packmate.”

“Right” Chris nodded. “Let’s get started.”

Allison looked down at the faint symbol on her arm for a moment “Lydia?”

“What?”

“What if this has something to do with Erica?”

“What do you mean?”

Allison reached around her father and pulled the computer toward her. She quickly typed in a search. “This symbol is familiar, like I’ve seen it before. What if it’s not an occult symbol at all? What if it’s a logo?”

“A logo? Like a business logo?”

“Yes! And what if the building with this logo on it is where Erica is being held?”

Chris took his daughter’s arm and turned it so that he could see the symbol. He’d seen stranger, and stranger things had certainly happened. “It’s worth looking into. You two stay here and keep researching, I’ll go help Peter with the search.”

Lydia came around the desk to crowd into the chair with Allison as Chris got up to open the safe where he kept his .45. “This could take days. We need to narrow it down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Insanely busy this last week. I apologize for the delay in updating. We have family visiting this week so I can't guarantee that the next update won't take just as long. Sorry. Not to worry though, I will not be abandoning the fic.
> 
> I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter a bank heist!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Comments are lovely. Kudos are awesome to, give me warm fuzzies they do.


	61. Sixty-One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pack breaks into the vault.

**_Sixty-One:_ **

_"Monsters cannot be announced. One cannot say: 'Here are our monsters,' without immediately turning the monsters into pets."_

_~ Jacques Derrida ~_

It takes too long to find her.

Allison is left with a feeling of dread so intense that she actually feels a little crippled by it. It takes too long to figure out that the logo belongs to a business that is no longer actually _in business_. then it takes too long to get into the city’s records to get the plans for the bank. Because that is where Erica is. She’s in the vault of an abandoned bank in an older section of downtown Beacon Hills.

Peter is enraged. He’s furious and frustrated and anyone with eyes can tell that the Alpha of Pack Hale is about to lose it if they don’t make a move to retrieve his missing beta. Boyd isn’t much better, he’s pissed off because he knows what they’re most likely going to find when they get into the vault is the rotting corpse of his girlfriend.

Stiles is the only thing standing between the hunters and the wolves. She knows they need a real plan. More than just bust in and go for it. Peter knows it too, but his fury tilts him more toward not caring about their need for an actual plan than not.

It’s Derek that suggests the wolves punch their way through the wall of vault from the _outside_ of the building. Jackson and Isaac immediately second the idea. Stiles thought about protesting (Scott actually did), then she remembered how strong she had actually become with the transformation. It was not outside of the realm of possibility that a werewolf could turn brick into fine powder.

Their resources were limited. The plan they eventually came up with leaned heavily on trusting Chris Argent with the safety of more than just his own. It made Peter uncomfortable, trusting an Argent with anything, much less two of the human members of his pack. The Sheriff was out, they had discovered another ritually slain body, so they couldn’t go into the bank under the guise of the Sheriff’s Department enacting a raid on a tip.

That had been Stiles’ original idea once she was told where Erica was being held. It would have made things easier. They would have been able to go in during the day. As it was they had to wait until the full moon had already risen and the small business district had shut down for the night.

Waiting for moonrise added exponentially to the danger they would all be in.

Especially with what Danny found out.

As soon as Chris arrived at the Hale House with the plans for the bank, Danny had taken them and poured over the plans and every page of information that came with them. On a list of materials used to build the vault one word had stuck out. _Hecatolite_. The name of the stone had bothered Danny for some reason. He had heard it before, but could not remember where. When he brought this to Stiles, she had remembered.

Hecatolite had an adverse reaction to werewolves. It was known to scatter moonlight, interrupting the effect it had on werewolves. It was even known to _prevent the transformation_. If that was true, then in the week leading up to the full moon that Erica had been missing for meant that she had not felt the moon in that long.

That was bad.

The pull of the moon was a very real thing for werewolves. They felt it all month long, not just at the full moon. Tolerance to it, and a balance found the body over time was part of what allowed a werewolf control. Without exposure leading up to a full moon a wolf would find it nearly impossible to control the transformation enough to make sure they didn’t hurt anyone. Strip that control away and they quickly became the monster all the stories were about. A base creature of instinct and blood.

No common sense. No reasoning. It would tear through anything and anyone that got in the way of what it wanted. Friend or foe, it didn’t matter.

Erica was still relatively new to the whole werewolf gig. Yes, she had been a wolf for months now, but she had been given the bite in extremely controlled circumstances. She had never been left alone during her transformation, and she had never spent a full moon on her own. Her pack had always been there to help corral her instincts. Her Alpha had always been there to exert some control over her should she ever lose control.

She had been a week now without feel the moon’s call. Without friend or family or pack.

That complicated matters.

The plan they eventually came up with was twofold… and very dangerous for everyone involved. They still had no idea of the numbers when it came to the Alpha Pack. No idea how guarded the vault would be.

Chris, Allison, Matt, Boyd and Scott would go in through the front. Chris would run point, he was combat. His job was to secure each room as they went until the building was secure. Allison and Matt were to help him with that, but they both had secondary missions as well.

Matt was assigned to watch Boyd’s back. If they encountered anything that would require the skill of an Emissary he would need to concentrate. He couldn’t cast a spell or break one and defend himself from an Alpha at the same time.

Allison was set to guard Scott. Scott who wanted to be a veterinarian and was learning medical skills at the elbow of both Dr. Deaton and his mother. He was their medic. He was carrying the emergency med kit Melissa had put together at the beginning. They were under no illusions that Erica would not be hurt.

From the back would be Peter, Jackson and Isaac. Peter, as the Alpha and probable target was to serve as a distraction. His was a combat unit. His and the two betas with him had only one goal. Engage any Alpha inside the bank long enough to get Erica out.

Derek, Stiles and Danny would be the ones going through the wall directly into the vault. Their job was to get Erica out. Derek, as second in command and the only born wolf, was stronger than the others. His job was to get through the wall and to engage anyone who tried to stop them. Stiles and Danny were to retrieve Erica. To restrain her if need be.

Stiles would be the one to determine whether or not medical attention was needed immediately or if it could wait.

\- - -

“Have you ever seen a monster?”

Deucalion paused in the doorway of the vault, surprised. What an unusual question. He turned back toward the voice that had asked the question. He was usually being _called_ a monster. He was the Demon Wolf after all. None who had confronted him had survived.

“I am a monster, my dear. We all are” Deucalion replied mildly.

An unladylike snort erupted from the center of the room where the two she-wolves were. One had been locked away from the moon for months now. The other - well, he could hear the strain, the waver in her voice. She was feeling it too.

“No. You’re a nightmare” she said. One of Deucalion’s eyebrows went up in surprise at this descriptor. Behind him, Ennis snorted.

“They what, pray tell, do you consider a monster?” he didn’t disguise the curiosity in his voice.

“A monster” the girl stated, voice clear (if a little weak) “is a beast so large that when it charges at you you’re paralyzed. All you see is burning eyes and teeth. A monster is hell on four legs with no agenda at all except for death… Nightmares have feelings and thoughts and plans and schemes. Monsters are destruction. Simple. Pure.”

“Oh? How interesting.”

“Mine is coming, you know.”

“Is it now?”

“Yes. And there is nowhere you can hide from my monster.”

\- - -

The moon rose at 7:05 that night. At nine the last business on the street closed its doors. At ten the street was quiet. At ten-thirty, as the moon crept out from behind a cloud, five shadowy figures slipped down the street to the abandoned bank. One of them crouched to pick the lock on the door and then they all slipped into the building.

In the alley behind the bank three figures walked down the street with no attempt at stealth. That was not their objective. When they came to the singular service door of the bank all three transformed. The one in the middle (the one with the bright, ruby eyes) kicked the door in with such force that the frame around it crumbled in places. Then he threw back in head and howled.

On either side of him, two golden eyed betas echoed him.

At one side of the bank, three more figures stood crouched in the shadows. When the three wolves went past the biggest one stood. His fist collided with the wall at the same moment that the door was kicked in, hiding the sound the impact made. He and the other two with him used the crashing and the howling to disguise their demolition of the vault wall.

Inside the bank, the group of five had already secured the front offices of the bank by the time the back door crashed open. They slipped into the back hallway at the same time as a huge, hulking Alpha roared past to meet the invasion at the back head on. The big Alpha met the three further down the hallway.

Here Allison and Scott stopped, they slipped into a storage closet to wait word of them being needed. Further down the hallway, Matt and Boyd slipped into an office for the same reason. Chris continued down the hallway alone to approached the vault door.

Peter stayed in his beta form. His job was to be a distraction from the real action in the vault. He also let Ennis toss him around a bit more than he would have otherwise. Jackson was turning out to be a very good soldier-wolf. His pent up aggression from years of feeling alone and unloved by his adopted parents made him a formidable opponent. Pairing him with Isaac, who (aside from Danny) he trusted most to have his back, and he was capable of keeping Ennis sufficiently distracted.

Peter moved to join Chris at the vault.

\- - -

Inside the vault the first echoing thud against the wall had both the werewolves inside it sitting up. Erica was restless and angry. Cora was sweaty, pallid and ill from being trapped in the vault for so long.

Then came the howling and several thuds against the wall at once.

“Peter” Erica whispered.

“They can’t” Cora mumbled. “It’s a trap.”

“Ye of little faith” Erica replied.

Another impact and dust and bits of chalky mortar flew into the air. There was roaring coming from inside the building and another series of thuds. Then the was crumbled in one spot and Derek, Danny and Stiles stepped into the vault.

“No!” Cora exclaimed.

Derek stared at the two people sitting at the base of a pillar near the center of the room. Erica looked worse for wear, but she was whole. It was the person that was cradled weakly against her shoulder that stunned him out of moving.

“Cora?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there it is. I couldn't get everything I wanted into this chapter, so the next one will finish it off.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed it.
> 
> Yes I will be addressing where Cora has been and how she survived the fire. No, it will not be the weird non-explanation Jeff Davis gave us. South America, seriously?


	62. Sixty-Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The vault continued.

**_Sixty-Two:_ **

_“If you’re reading this… Congratulations, you’re alive. If that’s not something to smile about, then I don’t know what is.”_

_~ Chad Sugg, ‘Monsters Under Your Head’ ~_

“It’s a trap!”

No one will ever remember who said it. If it was Erica. If it was Cora. In the end it didn’t really matter who said it, just that it was said right before all hell broke loose and the people inside the vault forgot entirely about Alpha Packs and imminent danger.

“I know.”

It could have been Derek. It could have been Danny, or Stiles. The point was moot.

Stiles spotted the rind of Mountain ash around the edges of the room first. Her eyes went wide just as the light of the full moon filtered through the dust ravaged air to land on the two wolves that had been trapped inside.

Both Erica and Cora stood, eyes going gold and faces wolfing out. Erica started growling, but they could tell that she was fighting it. She had only been locked inside the vault for a week. Compared to Cora she was a virtual kitten.

Cora on the other had became what Deucalion had been aiming for with this trap. A slavering beast of instinct who could tell only that her brother and his packmates stood between her and her way out. His intent was for serious harm (or death, death was good too) to befall one or more of the Hale Pack.

Cora’s insensate form launched itself across the space between herself and the three wolves at the hole in the wall. Stiles dove to the side, rolling away from the chaos. Danny was backhanded out of the way. He hit the door of the vault with a thud that clanged around the room. The sound made Erica lose whatever tenuous control she had managed to maintain.

She launched herself at Danny just as Derek met the sister he had thought was dead for just over seven years with a roar. Eyes flaring electric blue. He met her punch for punch for a few seconds. A minute maybe. Her strength after so much time away from the effect of the moon made her far stronger than him though.

Stiles whipped out her phone, noted the cracked screen and cursed. She launched herself off the floor with all the force she could muster and intercepted Erica midway through the air. the two she-wolves hit the ground with enough force to crack the concrete floor.

Danny groaned and rolled to his knees, shaking his head as his healing cleared the concussion he’d just received. He took in the situation. Stiles was locked up with Erica in what equated as the werewolf version of a slap fight. Derek was trading serious hits with the dark haired girl. They were shredding the metal of the safety deposit boxes built into the walls. Derek was losing.

Danny got to his feet and went for the door. He hauled the heavy door open and froze.

\- - -

Aiden and Ethan were standing guard at the door to the vault. Their job was to distract and delay, not kill. They heard Ennis getting into it at the rear of the building and were expecting an attack from that direction. They were also expecting wolves.

The hunter was a surprise.

Especially when he fired a stun gun into Aiden’s chest. Aiden went down with a crash, jerking as electricity jolted through him just as the vault door swung open from the inside. Ethan crouched and ripped the little electrodes off his brother’s chest just as Danny screamed “BOYD” as loudly as he could.

It was time to go.

He slung Aiden’s arm across his shoulders and hauled him upward. His eyes met Danny’s golden ones. Ethan was wolf enough to admit that Danny wolfed out was beautiful. Ears pointed, eyes glowing, fangs showing as he growled. The other boy turned to help his packmates and Ethan got a glimpse of the inside of the vault.

Two girls were rolling around on the floor, trading blows. One was the blonde that Deucalion had had them grab. The other was a short mas of wild dark hair and flashing eyes. Stiles Stilinski. Against one wall was the other wolf they’d been keeping captive. She was tearing into a huge black haired dude. He was keeping up with her, barely, but he was wounded. Bleeding heavily and had the disadvantage of being the only one in the fight trying actively not to kill his opponent.

Ethan had seen enough. He dragged Aiden off to the side just as Danny grabbed onto the brunette to try to get her off the big guy. The hunter appeared, his eyes on the retreating twins, gun ready as another man bolted past into vault.

That was the last either twin saw as they stumbled out of the bank and into the alleyway through the destroyed door.

\- - -

Boyd and Matt waited headed for the vault as soon as Allison and Scott reached them. If there was a need for Boyd, then Scott was probably needed as well. They were joined by Isaac, who was dragging an insensate Jackson alongside him. Ennis had rammed Jackson’s head into the floor several times before he bolted.

When they reached the vault, Chris was standing guard at the door, warily watching the darkness around him. He nodded them into the vault and Allison and Matt took up positions on either side of the older hunter.

Inside the vault was a scene from either a horror flick or a disaster movie. Derek was slumped to the ground against one wall, deposit boxes and rubble scattered around him, bleeding profusely from slashed across his neck and chest.

Danny was struggling to hold onto Erica’s arms and avoid her snapping teeth at the same time. Stiles was sitting bodily one Erica’s legs to keep her pinned. She was losing her fight a little at a time.

Scott headed across the room toward Derek, skirting around Peter. He was halfway to Alpha form, resembling more the huge black beast he had been in the beginning than the huge black wolf they had all come to recognize. He was pinning a struggling girl the floor. Scott’s ears rang a little as the Alpha’s eyes flared red and he roared in the girl’s face.

It made her pause.

“Boyd!” Stiles called. “Mountain ash!”

Boyd nodded, eyes fixed on his girlfriend, even as he went to break the mountain ash circle that was keeping all the wolves trapped the vault.

Scott knelt next to Derek, wincing at his boyfriend’s wounds. Derek offered him a pained smile. He opened his pack and started rifling through it for bandages.

“We’re gonna need those tranquilizers” Derek said, wincing as Scott pressed a big pad of gauze against the worst of his wounds.

“I got it” Allison said, coming into the vault. She had slung her crossbow over her shoulder and was loading a furry-ended dart into a tranquilizer gun. She strode up to the struggling beta pinned beneath Peter, and set the stock of the rifle into her shoulder. “We loaded enough into these to take down an Alpha, hopefully it’ll be enough to take down a moonlight deprived beta.”

She fired, and with a muted _woopfh_ , a dart hit the girl in the shoulder. She howled and reared up. Peter slammed her back down the concrete. The tranquilizer began to take effect and the crazed werewolf slumped under him. It wasn’t enough to knock her out completely, but it was enough to make her insensible.

“We should get out of here” Stiles said as Erica finally stopped fighting an slumped to the floor, exhausted. Stiles got up and moved over to crouch next to Scott and Derek. Danny Stood and scooped up Erica, throwing her over his shoulder.

Boyd bent over the line of mountain ash and waved his hands. The line broke, the black grains blowing away under his belief and power. Isaac hauled Jackson up again (he grumbled in protest) and Boyd draped the blond’s other arm over his shoulder to help. Stiles and Scott got Derek to his feet as Peter threw the girl over his shoulder.

“Let’s get them home” Peter said, having turned back to his human form.

\- - -

Across the street, atop the roof of the adjacent building stood a man and a woman. As they watched the Hale Pack climb out of the wreckage of the vault the man hmmm’ed in thought.

“What is it?” Kali asked curiously.

“He’s more powerful than I thought” Deucalion replied, voice thoughtful.

“He can wrangle a crazed beta” Kali remarked as a beat up Ennis appeared next to her.

“There are more of them than we knew” Ennis said. “Looks like they’ve got a truce with the local hunters, too.”

Deucalion turned as Aiden and Ethan appeared just behind Kali “This will be a most interesting endeavor, I believe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The conclusion of the vault. Hope it wasn't too violent for anyone.
> 
> Fluffy fluffiness up next because after that I need fluffies stat. ^_^


	63. Sixty-Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the vault. We learn where Cora's been all these years.

**_Sixty-Three:_ **

_“Childhood is over the minute you know you’re going to die.”_

_~ The Crow ~_

When she woke up, Cora thought she was dreaming. There was no pain. She was warm and comfortable. She could feel the air around her, feel the call of the moon overhead. It was no longer full, but she could _feel_ it. Breathing in revealed a myriad of different scents that she didn’t recognize, and one or two that touched something deep inside her and made the wolf curl up with a whimper.

Pack. _Family_.

There were wolves and humans here. Faintly she could hear a television playing, probably on the floor below where she was. Cora let her eyes open and she took in the room around her. The walls were a comforting combination of cream and a deep forest green. The bed she was in dominated the room with soft chocolate sheets and a green bedspread. Breathing to her left had her turning her head. There was a man slouched in a chair next to the bed, asleep. Dark hair, strong cheekbones.

He looked so much like her father.

His scent took her back to a time when she was happy. When there had been siblings to tumble with and parents to snuggle up to late at night. She stared at him for a few minutes, watching his chest rise and fall as he slept.

“Derek?”

The sound of her voice jolted him awake. Green eyes blinked open and he jerked upright. They remained unfocused for a second, then they sharpened and Derek was leaning toward her, running one hand over her brow and through her hair.

“Cora?” Derek whispered. There was some awe underneath the worry in his voice, “How do you feel?”

Cora thought about it for a few moments, really considering the question “I feel fine. Better than in a long time.”

Derek let her sit up when she moved to get herself upright. He bit his lip, obviously debating something. When he made up his mind he reached out and pulled Cora into him, hugging her tightly, but gently. Cora stiffened in surprise, then relaxed into the embrace as the old familiar scent of her older brother invaded her nose. His grip tightened on her for a second.

“We thought you were dead” he breathed.

Cora huffed a watery laugh, pulling away from him and wiping at her eyes. “I thought you were dead” she replied.

Derek was on the bed next to her then, unwilling to let go of her entirely “Laura and I went to the movies that night. We didn’t get home until after, when the fire department was putting out the flames.”

Cora nodded. She could vaguely remember wanting to go with them that night. Talia had said no though, it was a school night, and Cora was only ten. Brendan, their father had made a compromise, Cora could go outside to play until dark instead. “Dad talked Mom into letting me go outside until dark. I was late getting home, not a lot though… but the house was on fire. There was a group of people, maybe two or three, leaving the house. They smelled like gunpowder and wolfsbane. You remember what Uncle Peter used to say?”

Derek nodded “You identify a hunter by how they smell, no matter how long it’s been since they handled it, they always smell faintly of aconite.” Kate had always smelled strongly of jasmine, her way of covering any other scents she might have been carrying.

Cora played with the edge of the comforter, unable to look her brother in the eyes “They smelled so wrong, and all I could see was the fire and the screams, Derek. I’ll never forget that sound. I ran.”

“That’s why we never found you” Derek said. After Peter had been recovered he and Laura had scoured the woods around the house for miles, hoping, praying that someone else might have made it out. They had never found anyone, then they had left for New York. “How far did you get?”

“Oregon” Cora said. “I got picked up off a back road outside of Ashland. They put me in a group home because they couldn’t get me to say anything. The only reason they knew my name was because my jacket had it written on it.”

“We’re you ever…”

“No.” Cora shook her head “No one wanted the strange girl who wouldn’t talk. Then I got too old for most people. I lived at the group home until I got taken.”

Derek nodded thoughtfully “Then you don’t know.”

“Don’t know what?”

“Uncle Peter survived the fire.”

“What?!”

“He was in a coma for six years. Laura took me to New York with her.” Derek looked away for a moment, swallowing hard. “We came back just after Peter came out of the coma at the end of January.”

“What are you not telling me?”

Derek gazed at his sister for a bit. There was nothing for it. So he told her about Laura. Laura, and Peter and Alphas and the new Hale Pack.

\- - -

Erica was sick of being kidnapped. When she finally came to it was the first thing she told Boyd. Boyd, he wonderful boyfriend who was snuggled up with her on the loveseat in her Alpha’s living room. She had an awkward looking green afghan draped over her legs (Stiles’ first and only attempt at knitting). Isaac, Scott and Danny were pummeling each other on Mario Kart. Jackson was eating chips while he alternated cheering on Danny and Isaac and telling them both to crush Scott.

She was home.

“Next time” she said when the game was paused so that everyone could greet her. “Someone else can get kidnapped ok. I’m going on a kidnapping strike.”

“Deal” Boyd said with a smile.

“No one else is going to be kidnapped” Lydia said from her place in the armchair. She had a notebook in her lap and a pencil in the other one. “Somehow I don’t think the Alpha Pack are the type to repeat their tricks.”

“Peter said no Alpha talk” Isaac said as the game resumed.

Erica looked up at Boyd with raised eyebrows. Boyd shrugged. She settled back into him and turned to watch her pack brothers destroy each other in a racing game. This felt nice. It wasn’t really a novelty, hanging out here or at the Stilinskis, but after a week of being locked inside that vault, this was heaven.

Across the room, Lydia caught her eye and gave her a smile. Erica smiled back and pulled the afghan up to her nose and inhaled the scents that clung to it. Peter and Stiles were strongest, but the unique scents of each of her pack mates clung to it, mingling to create a scent that was simply pack.

Movement over the back of the sofa Jackson was dominating caught her eye. She looked over it to see Peter standing in the doorway. He met her eyes and something inside Erica loosened at the sight of her Alpha. The Alpha that had never, not once, failed her. His blue gaze was gentle as he looked at her and then gazed over the pack assembled in his den.

She felt safer.

Stiles appeared next to Peter. Erica watched her Pack Mother lace her fingers through the Alpha’s and lean against his shoulder. She watched the game on the tv for a moment before she tugged Peter from the room.

Erica finally settled fully into Boyd, turning her own gaze on the vicious racing going on. She smiled “Kick their asses, Scottie!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wasn't as floofy as I expected it to turn out to be. Sorry.
> 
> Steter fluffies next chapter. ^_^


	64. Sixty-Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Stiles have the fluffies. Cora becomes a part of the pack.

**_Sixty-Four:_ **

_“I’ve always believed in savouring the moments. In the end, they are the only things we’ll have.”_

_~ Anna Godberson, The Luxe ~_

“Relax. All the puppies are accounted for.”

Peter huffed a chuckle as he let Stiles pull him down on top of her in the hammock. It swung wildly for a minute before they were settled. Stiles ran her fingers through his hair, scratching at his scalp in the way she knew he loved. He settled his nose into the hollow of her throat and breathed her in as he settled on his side next to her, one leg rucked up and tucked between hers.

“She’s alive.”

“Yes, she is” Stiles replied. “She’s gonna be fine.”

“What if she decides not to stay?”

“She’ll stay. You’re here. Derek’s here. Her family is here.”

“I killed Laura.”

Stiles breathed in deeply and gently made Peter tilt his head to meet her eyes. They watched each other for a few seconds and then Stiles wriggled down and turned so that they were facing each other on their sides. Peter’s fingers brushed over the skin on her side where her shirt had ridden up during her movement.

“She’ll forgive you.”

“How?”

“Derek has, and he had more time with Laura.”

“He never said -”

“He doesn’t have to. He’s here.”

Peter nodded at the logic in that. Sometimes the fact that Stiles was so intuitive got buried underneath the rest of who she was. He was glad of it, because it was one more small thing that he felt was just his. Stiles rucked up the back of the henley he was wearing and flattened her hands against his back before she rubbed their noses together.

“I love you” she said.

Peter kissed her in reply, then smiled as he pulled her into his chest. She made a happy little growling sound as she tucked her nose into his neck and then she proceeded to scent mark him.

“Marry me.”

Stiles pulled back to stare at him in surprise “What?”

Peter was surprised himself. He hadn’t meant to say that. He had always known, from the moment he’d bitten her and she had held onto him, that he would never let her go. Stiles was the one thing that had pulled him back from the edge. She was the only thing that had prevented him becoming a psychotic, mass murderer.

Now that he had said it, he couldn’t muster the want to take the words back.

“Marry me.”

“Peter, I’m seventeen.”

“I know that” Peter said. He tucked a few strands of her lengthening hair behind her ear. “And I don’t mean let’s go out and get married tomorrow. In the future, after you’re finished with high school.”

Stiles sighed “We’re already mates, Peter.”

“Unofficially” Peter said. That was true, they were waiting for her eighteenth to make the mating official. “You don’t want to marry me?”

“No!” Stiles exclaimed. “It’s not that! I’m just surprised.”

“Stiles - “

“Peter” Stiles cut him off, leaning more into him and pressing a kiss to his chin. “I love you.”

Peter smiled “I love you.”

They were silent for a few minutes. They listened to the crickets chirp and the other bugs go about their nightly routines. Somewhere in the distance a racoon was rummaging through a pile of fallen leaves looking for grubs. Up at the house the sounds of the pups playing drifted down toward them.

“I want cubs.”

“What?”

“Cubs” Stiles said, looking up at him with a little glint in her eyes. “At least three, but I’m flexible on more.”

Peter’s arms tightened around her. He had been purposefully avoiding thinking about cubs these last few months. He really was trying to take this at a pace that Stiles was comfortable with, much less her father. Apparently Stiles had had no qualms on thinking about it.

“Can you handle that?” she asked.

“Yes” Peter breathed into her hair.

He felt a smile curve against his neck “I want a shiny ring, not too gaudy. And you have to ask my father for permission.”

Peter sucked in a deep breath “Are you saying yes?”

“Ask me again when you have a shiny ring and my father’s permission” she said. “We’re not getting married until I’m at least twenty though.”

“Deal” Peter replied instantly.

Stiles laughed silently, then she licked his neck. He jerked away from her in reaction and her laughter became audible. Peter growled at her playfully and goosed his fingers up her side. She shrieked and tried to get away. The hammock swung dangerously for a few seconds before they settled back down, this time with Stiles on top of Peter, settled into his side.

\- - -

“Who is she?” Cora asked softly. She and Derek were standing on the porch of the newly rebuild Hale House, looking down the slope to an area lit by lanterns.

Derek set his hand on his sister’s shoulder “Stiles. She’s our Pack Mother.”

Cora’s breath caught, eyes riveted on the couple in the softly swaying hammock. Pack Mother. The pack was established enough to have a Pack Mother. “She’s his mate?”

“She will be” Derek said. “Next year when she turns eighteen.”

Cora blinked and glanced up at him, then looked back at the alpha pair at the bottom of their garden. “Maybe we should wait.”

“They won’t mind. They’re probably waiting for us” Derek said, then propelled her forward.

Cora stumbled down the porch steps before she got her feet under her and made her way forward under her own steam. Derek was a solid, reassuring presence at her back as they got closer. She looked up from the sandstone path set into the ground to see two pairs of eyes watching them. One beta gold and the other alpha red.

She stopped walking, uncertain when she became aware of the fact that Derek had stopped at the edge of the fire pit. She clutched her hands together, biting her lip.

“Cora.”

Cora looked up at the sound her name. While he looked different, older now, with fading scars all down the side of his face, his voice was mostly the same. He still smelled like her uncle too. She met his gaze and he smiled at her. She took another step forward, eyes flickering to the other werewolf with her uncle. Stiles held out a hand to her. She reached out and took it.

Stiles yanked her down into the hammock with them, making her yelp in surprise.

When they settled she was wedged between the Alpha and his Mate. She was secure in her uncle’s embrace, and Stiles was playing softly with her hair. Cora sighed and sunk into the embrace.

Peter rumbled contently as they all felt the pack bond settle into place. Stiles hummed in response and Cora felt herself smiling.

“Welcome home” Peter said softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, that wasn't what I was aiming for. As usual this chapter took on a life of its own, like many of the chapters that came before it.
> 
> Coming soon: More on the murders happening in Beacon Hills, and a meeting between Alphas.
> 
> Also, Lydia meets a certain werewolf.


	65. Sixty-Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sheriff brings the murders happening in town to the Pack's attention. Two Alpha have a conversation.

**_Sixty-Five:_ **

_"I’ve always felt that the best place to hide a body is in the trunk of a cop car, with a note affixed to the body that reads, 'I’m sorry.'"_

_~ Jarod Kintz ~_

By the time that Jeorek brings the murders to the attention of the pack, three people have been found tied to trees and garotted. The presence of the Alpha Pack had given the Sheriff pause. Erica disappearing had made him stop. The third body showing up two days after Erica and Cora were rescued had given him no choice.

Peter and Stiles are the ones he talks to. He pulls them aside after dinner and they pour over the case files. Theories are flung around. Stiles calls Lydia and gets the other girl to use an advanced algorithm to track the trend of where the bodies have all been found. Unfortunately there isn't enough evidence, Lydia needs more bodies in order to be of use.

More bodies is what they’re trying to prevent.

Peter takes Derek the following day while everyone is in school and goes to each crime scene to see if they can find anything the police may have missed. Unfortunately, there isn't anything. They return knowing only that it wasn't werewolves that did the killing.

That meant they really did have more problems than just the Alpha Pack. If the murders weren't supernatural, Peter would eat his favorite coat.

He resolved to take the problem to Chris Argent.

\- - -

Thursday night Scott had working the late shift at the clinic when it happened. One of his classmates had brought one of his dogs in, a cute little thing named Bullet. Now that Scott has the circle of friends he has, he’s more known at school. Kyle apparently has a couple more dogs at home, named after guns.

Scott just kind of smiled and noded along, mostly because Bullet really was adorable.

He was cleaning up after Kyle and Bullet left, it had only been a few minutes when he heard the scream. In the past, he would have called for help or the police. Now though, Scott was an experienced member of a werewolf pack. He’d help fight off a crazed Alpha and a psycho hunter. One scream really didn’t scare him enough to call the cops.

He did, however, go outside to check it out.

There was nothing there. Nothing but little Bullet barking into the shadows behind the dumpster. Scott picked the little dog up and peered into the alley. He didn’t have werewolf eyes though, and couldn’t see into the shadows. He frowned, looking out to the parking lot. Kyle’s car was still there.

Something had happened.

He went inside, taking the dog with him. If he had stayed he might have seen the pale, grotesque figure rise up out of the shadows. It watched the door click shut behind boy and beast, and then it vanished altogether.

\- - -

“Any theories?”

Peter looked up as Jeorek slid into the seat across from him. They were both on a break, Jeorek from his search for the missing teenager that his son had reported the night before, and Peter from the firm and a set of plans that were driving him up the wall.

“Human sacrifice.”

Jeorek stared at him grimly for a second “I was hoping you weren’t going to say that.”

“It is the only reasonable explanation” Peter replied. “Unfortunately.”

“Reasonable, huh?” Jeorek looked like he wanted to say that his version of reasonable and Peter’s were very different. They were. Jeorek looked at it from the perspective of a cop, a human. Peter looked at it from the perspective of a supernatural creature. Jeorek sighed and pulled Peter’s basket of curly fries toward himself.

“Are you trying to get me into trouble, Sheriff?” Peter asked.

Jeorek looked at him grumpily and said around his mouthful of fries: “Wha’ ‘iles do’sn’t know, won’ kill ‘er.”

“Perhaps” Peter remarked, then he changed the subject. “I spoke with Boyd, who confirmed it with Deaton. The way you’re finding the victims, the triple method of death, all leans toward ritualistic killings. Whoever it is that is doing this is expecting to gain something from this.”

“Like what?”

“Power most likely. Stiles spoke with family and friends of the victims, all three were virgins.”

“Seriously?” Jeorek looked like he wanted to scoff, but knew better by now. “Virgin sacrifices?”

“Is unfortunately a true thing. It’s not the virgin thing, it’s a purity thing. Your killer could have just as easily chosen children, or anyone with that sort of innocent, purness to them.” Peter looked thoughtful “Virgins are the first thing most people think of because it has been romanticized and expounded upon throughout history.”

“I see.”

“We’re trying to find what sort of ritual this is, but unfortunately we don’t have enough information.”

“Was Kyle?”

“A virgin?” Peter shook his head “Not according to Boyd. They’re in the JROTC together. Or they were, before studying to be an emissary took up too much of Boyd’s time.”

“He had a steady girlfriend, too” Jeorek said. “So I figured he wasn’t. So it’s not just virgins this person is after.”

“Unfortunately not.”

“Did you talk to Argent?”

“Not yet” Peter took a sip from his glass of water. “Derek is going to swing by there after he finishes his patrol.”

Jeorek nodded and pushed the now empty basket away from him. He wiped his fingers off on a napkin and stood. He set a hand on Peter’s shoulder and squeezed gently as he passed. Peter paused in acknowledgement of the gesture. The two men had come to an understanding over their mutual love of the older man’s daughter. They had actually found in the past few months that they got along rather well.

“Do you make a habit of helping out the local law enforcement?”

Peter looked up, broken from his musings by the mild, british voice. There was a man standing next to his booth, with sandy hair and dark glasses on his face. He had a cane in one hand. He was blind. Peter inhaled a breath and resisted the urge to growl. Blind or not, this man was an Alpha. Probably _the_ Alpha, since he was approaching Peter.

Peter sat back casually “It helps to keep on the Sheriff’s good side.”

The other man smiled softly (more of a smirk) “I see. May I?”

Peter’s eyebrows crawled toward his hairline, then nodded “Of course.”

The man sat down in the seat the Sheriff had vacated. The two watched each other for a few minutes. Peter’s waitress cleared his plate and refilled his glass, bringing one for the newcomer as well. Peter Hale was a regular at Mae’s these days. He frequently had lunch with the Sheriff, or with Stiles.

“Thank you Audrey” Peter said when the girl set down the second glass of water. She smiled at him and he waited until she was gone before he spoke: “You seem to be under the mistaken impression that you and yours are welcome in Beacon Hills.”

“I find” the other man said calmly “that even if we aren’t welcome at first, we are always welcome in the end.”

“Do you. How odd.”

“Shall we not beat around the proverbial bush, Mr. Hale?”

“Please, say what you came to say.”

“I am here for you. You are a strong Alpha, Peter. To have come back, to have healed after being wounded like you were, is quite extraordinary.”

“You want me to join your pack.”

“Yes.”

“I have a pack, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“For now.”

Peter gazed at the man across from him as he let the pieces click into place in his head. He knew this man. His sister had always spoken highly of him, but he also knew that he too had encountered the Argents. He glanced around the diner. There was a couple sitting in a booth just a few away from where he and the Alpha across from them. Everything about them said predator. Peter didn’t recognize the female, but he knew the other one.

“Are you threatening to kill my pack?”

“No. You will kill them.”

Peter didn’t let the fact that he was ready to throw himself across the table show on his face. This man had a lot of gall to come here and basically tell him that one way or another the pack he had grown would all die. At Peter’s hand apparently.

“Will I?”

“Yes. You see, in order for you to join us, you must first cut your ties to your pack.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Don’t be so sure.”

Peter stood up, put a few bills on the table to pay for his meal and looked the Alpha right in the eyes. “A friendly warning, from me to you. Don’t threaten my pack, or you will see a true monster. Have a good day.”

Deucalion watched as Peter Hale left the diner, back straight. He frowned slightly as Kali and Ennis joined him. There was something different about Peter than Deucalion remembered. He remembered a young man who liked to amuse himself by harmlessly manipulating the people around him, this grown Peter wasn’t the same. There was something more now. Something greater, something more sinister.

“I do believe that this may be harder that I originally thought” the british man said conversationally.

“How so?” Kali questioned.

“Peter Hale is a very smart man, Kali. It would be best if we didn’t underestimate him.”

Kali and Ennis exchanged a somewhat surprised look. Deucalion was a genius. Him saying that Peter was smart meant that they were in for a tougher fight than they had originally thought. There were more betas in this town than they had been led to believe also. None of them had been able to say for sure how many wolves comprised the Hale Pack.

The next few weeks would be most interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so that bit with Deucalion and Peter turned out differently than I had originally planned, because I remembered that Peter knew Ennis before the fire, and so had probably at least heard of or even met Deucalion, so I had to change it.
> 
> Lydia meets Aiden next chapter. ^_^


	66. Sixty-Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lydia and Aiden meet. A discussion about the murders is had. A doctor goes missing, and someone gets poisoned.

**_Sixty-Six:_ **

_“You know,” he said, “every time a vampire says he doesn’t believe in lycanthropes, a werewolf bursts into flames.”_

_~ Elizabeth Bear, New Amsterdam ~_

Lydia Martin is not the kind of person you can get one over on. She’s intelligent, astute and very, very observant. When the world had spiralled out of control and werewolves had suddenly become a thing, did she panic? No. No she didn’t. Lydia Martin never panics. She sat back, observed this new world, considered her options and made her choice.

She was now part of a werewolf pack. A large pack, filled with the best friends she has ever had, and she probably ever will have. They know how smart she is. They value her for it. She likes that.

She has come to that point where she knows a werewolf when she sees one, thanks.

The fact that the new twins are werewolves? Not really a surprise. It’s the way her luck had started to run when she had decided to throw her lot in with Stilinski and Hale.

“No.”

Confusion crept across his face, which was a shame, because he really was a good looking guy. She had initially been hoping that he was at least above cromagnon in the brains department.

“I didn’t say anything” he said.

“You don’t have to” Lydia said, turning away from her locker to face him. “My answer will still be no.”

“You don’t know what I was going to ask.”

“You were going to ask me out” Lydia informed him. She had decided going into this new school year that she wasn’t going to hide her intelligence, and she wasn’t going to start now. She raised an eyebrow and unwrapped the sucker she’d been looking for. “I make a point of not dating strange werewolves.”

His eyebrows skyrocketed upward at her statement “Who said -”

“You didn’t have to” Lydia replied, waving the sucker in his general direction. “I know a werewolf when I see one. Answer’s no.”

“But… you’re human, how can you tell?”

Lydia gave her trademark deadpan ‘ _you are such a moron_ ’ look “I’m not in the habit of dating enemy wolves. Goodbye.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but didn’t manage it as Danny appeared at Lydia’s elbow with a frown on his face. Ethan appeared at Aiden’s elbow, scowling.

“You ready?” Danny asked Lydia.

“Yep.”

“Seriously?” Ethan demanded.

A growl rumbled up through Danny’s chest and he sent a very irritated look at Ethan “You belong to a pack that wants our Alpha to kill us all. You are not datable material.”

“You too, huh?” Lydia asked, looping her arm through Danny’s. Danny just sighed and rolled his eyes as the pair turned to head out of the school together.

“That’s it?” Aiden asked. It was said vaguely, so one wouldn’t be able to tell if it was aimed at Ethan, Lydia’s back or the area in general.

“Change sides and maybe we’ll talk” Lydia called back. “Until then, next time you proposition me expect to get a molotov cocktail to the face.”

Ethan and Aiden watched the wolf and human vanish around a corner, then Ethan said: “We are so screwed.”

Aiden could only nod in agreement.

\- - -

“The only thing any of these guys has in common is the ROTC” Jeorek said with a frown.

“They were killed in the same manner as the others were” Peter pointed out. He couldn’t bring himself to care much about the fact that Adrian Harris was dead. He was a small fish when it came to what had happened to his family, but he had still given Kate all the ammunition she needed to get away with setting the Hale House on fire.

“Yes, which says it’s the same person” Jeorek said. He sighed and sat down in a chair heavily.

“It sounds to me like a Darach” Alan Deaton remarked from his place at his desk. He was leafing through an old tome, looking for any information he could.

“A what?”

“A dark Druid” Alan explained. There was still so much to teach Boyd. “Basically an Emissary who has gone dark side.”

“So it is ritualistic?”

“Oh yes” Deaton turned the book to face the Sheriff and the Alpha as soon as he found the passage he was looking for. “It’s a ritual for power. Power and protection. Whoever it is that is doing this has something very big planned, and they’re taking every step they can to avoid being vulnerable at the time when they want to act.”

“So, how many more bodies are we looking at?” Jeorek questioned, skimming the passage, but not really reading it.

Peter was though, “Nine, it looks like.”

Alan nodded “Virgins, Warriors, Healers, Philosophers and Guardians.”

“The three girls from before were all virgins. Harris, the music teacher and Kyle were all ROTC, so warriors.”

“Yes” Alan nodded again. “There are certain times of the year, certain phases of the moon, that are the most powerful.”

“The eclipse” Peter said.

“Yes” Alan agreed. “Whoever this Darach is, they have to kill nine more people, and they’re running out of time.”

\- - -

"I don't care if you have to send a messenger pigeon, you let me know the moment Dr. Hillyard gets here!"

The clerk at the emergency room desk nodded frantically with wide eyes. The poor young man had been hired on while Melissa had been on her honeymoon. Apparently the other nurses and a few of the doctors had pitched Melissa as some sort of mythical figure to the poor boy... He was terrified of her.

She didn't have time to disabuse him of that notion because they were understaffed and overwhelmed. There had been a twelve car pileup on the one freeway that cut through town, and the attending physician was no where to be found.

That left Melissa in charge of the ER.

"Mom?"

Melissa looked up at two welcome faces and gave a relieved smile at the sight of the white paper sack clutched in Scott's hand. "Hey guys."

"What happened?" Stiles asked curiously as Melissa led her children to the nurse's station.

"Twelve car pileup and no one can find Dr. Malcolm."

"What about the on call?" Scott wondered as he handed his mother the meal she had asked him to bring her.

"Dr. Hillyard is on her way, but until then..."

"Did you call Papa about Dr. Malcolm?" Stiles asked.

Melissa nodded "They're busy with the accident, but he promised to send a deputy as soon as he could."

That made sense, so neither of the teens said anything. It was still very strange though, so Stiles stepped to the side, pulling out her phone. She frowned to herself as she composed a text to let Peter know about the missing doctor.

"Danny?"

Stiles looked up at Scott's voice, following her brother's gaze to see the twins barge through the doors, Danny slung between them and Lydia bringing up the rear, pale and wide eyed.

"What happened?" Stiles demanded, rushing forward with Scott and Melissa. Stiles shouldered Aiden out of the way with a frown and a growl. Ethan relinquished his grasp on Danny to Scott without protest.

"He collapsed" Lydia said, voice high with suppressed panic.

"What could make a werewolf collapse?" Scott asked quietly as Melisa led them into an exam room and pulled the curtain closed around the bed.

"I don't know."

Before anything else could be said Danny pitched himself sideways, throwing up a cloudy white mass. He flopped back on the bed, gasping for air.

"Is that mistletoe?" someone asked.

Scott and Stiles exchanged a worried look. Mistletoe was toxic to humans, but fatal to werewolves. Danny had been poisoned.

"Call Boyd" Stiles said. "And Deaton."

Scott nodded rapidly and Danny started gasping for air. His eyes flashed gold and his fangs dropped. Stiles leapt forward to hold him down.

"One of his lungs has collapsed!" Melissa said, moving to help.

"Do something!" Ethan demanded.

Melissa wasn't a doctor, but she was an RN, and a good one. She reached for the drawers at the side of the bed. She pulled out a long needle and as she performed the procedure to reinflate Danny's lung, black veins traveled up Stiles' arms as she began to drain his pain.

In Scott's had, his phone continued to ring unanswered. Lydia was pale and shaking as she felt deep down that something was very deeply wrong.

And it was only going to get worse before it got better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am soooo sorry for the delay on this update. I meant to get it up on Thursday, but my sister went into labor while I was writing it and I was called in to look after her other kid in the middle if the night.
> 
> But hey, we have a new baby!
> 
> Anyway, lots of plot in this chapter. More to come in the next day or two.


	67. Sixty-Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Darach has made the next move, and now the pack has to scramble to save one of its own.

**_Sixty-Seven:_ **

_“There are poisons that blind you, and poisons that open your eyes.”_

_~ August Strindberg ~_

Boyd arrived with a shoebox under one arm and a glare worthy of any Hale on his face for the twins. He didn’t say anything, but both Alpha’s knew that the Emissary was not only not happy to see them, but was willing to blast either one of them if they got any closer to his packmates. He clattered up to the side of the bed, handed Lydia the box and opened it.

Whatever was inside it smelled absolutely putrid and made all the wolves in the room rear back, including the insensate Danny on the bed.

“You really should have called my Uncle” Boyd said as he forced a mushed up mass of _something_ down Danny’s throat. “He’s the healer.”

Stiles froze. She stared at Boyd from her position holding down Danny’s shoulders. Then she blinked “What did you just say?”

“I said that you should’ve called my Uncle.”

“No, the other thing.”

“What?”

“He’s a healer” Scott breathed, making the connection. He and Stiles exchanged a worried look, then he turned to his mother “How long has Dr. Malcolm been missing?”

Melissa looked confused, but she thought about it “He never showed up for his shift this afternoon. So at least that long.”

Stiles and Scott exchanged another look before Scott fished out his phone and left the room quickly, already dialing. Stiles waited until Danny sagged to the mattress in a sort of exhausted relief before she let go. “Will you guys stay with him?”

“We’ve got it” Lydia said, settling down into a chair next to the bed. Boyd nodded, he could tell from the expression on her face that Stiles didn’t just mean keep Danny company. She wanted him guarded.

“Mom, be careful tonight, okay. I’m going to find Dad and talk to him about Dr. Malcolm.”

Melissa nodded as she started a chart for Danny. Whatever was going on would be explained to her in full when there weren’t enemy (or civilian) ears about. She could handle waiting. “Be careful.”

“We will” Stiles replied. She brushed one hand down Danny’s face in farewell, nodded to Boyd and squeezed Lydia’s shoulder. When she turned to the door and saw the twins still standing there her eyes were hard chips of amber, her face fierce. “It’s time for you to go. Now.”

“But -”

Stiles ushered them out of the room, closing the door before she spoke clearly, making sure to enunciate well so as not to be mistaken, “I’m grateful for what you just did. You didn’t have to save Danny, especially since we’re enemies. Especially since Deucalion wants Peter to kill us all. But you did, and I’m highly grateful, we all are. At the end of the day, we’re still enemies. You’re going to do your best to kill us, and we’re going to try to kill you right back.”

Ethan opened his mouth to protest, but stayed silent when Aiden set his hand on his brother’s shoulder “She’s right. Come on.”

Stiles watched them head for the door until she was sure they were really leaving then turned to find Scott. He was looking at his phone with a frown on his face. Stiles walked over to him and he said: “Deaton’s not answering his phone, but he left me a voicemail about twenty minutes ago.”

Scott put his phone on speaker and hit the button to play the voicemail. Deaton’s voice came through in that steady, calm tone he used when he was trying to sooth an angry animal.

_“Scott, listen to me. I’m going to be taken, and I need you to find me. I need you to find me or I’m going to die.”_

The pair looked at each other for a minute, then Scott said “Keys.”

Stiles handed him the keys to the jeep without question. She was faster on foot that he was, by far. “Take Derek with you.”

“I will. I’ll let you know if we find anything” Scott said as they headed for the door. Stiles nodded as they exited the hospital. Curiously her Dad’s SUV was in the lot, lights flashing. Scott jogged across the pavement to her jeep, got in and drove away as Stiles went to see what was going on. Jeorek and a deputy Stiles didn’t recognize (which was strange in and of itself) were examining an empty car that looked like it had crashed all by itself.

“Papa?”

Jeorek looked up, expression grim, and waved Stiles past the hospital security guard he was using to keep a perimeter around the car.

“What happened?” Stiles asked as soon as she got to his side.

“I was coming to check about that missing doctor” Jeorek replied as he reached toward the floor of the car and picked up a very large, very unique looking moth. “This car crashed right in front of us, it was already empty when it happened.”

“Who’s car is it?”

“Dr. Hillyard’s.”

Stiles felt her shoulders sag a little “That’s three.”

“Three?”

“Healers.”

Jeorek turned laser sharp eyes on his child “What?”

“Three healers missing. Dr. Malcolm, Dr. Hillyard and we can’t find Dr. Deaton.”

“Isn’t Dr. Deaton the local vet?” the deputy asked.

“Who’s this guy?” Stiles asked, suddenly bewildered over the fact that she didn’t know this guy. She knew everyone that worked for her dad.

“Parrish” Jeorek said. “It’s his first day. Parrish, my daughter, Stiles. Stiles, what do you mean Deaton’s missing, Peter and I saw him this morning.”

“Danny’s been poisoned” Stiles said. “We tried calling Deaton when we called Boyd, but he wasn’t answering.”

Jeorek nodded, it made sense, Boyd was still learning about being an Emissary. Deaton was not only fully trained, but he was trained in medicine as well. “He didn’t answer the phone?”

“Nope. He left Scott a message. Said he was going to be taken and that he needed him to find him.”

“The Darach” Jeorek concluded with a sigh. “Please tell me you didn’t send your brother to the scene of an abduction by himself.”

“Derek” Stiles said. It was all she needed to say. Jeorek knew very well that Scott was not only very smart, but he was safe as houses with Derek Hale. He always had been.

He looked down at the moth in his hand and his lips thinned in thought. “Is Peter still at the Argents?”

“Probably. That could take all night.”

“Right. I’m going to call him and let him know our local Druid is missing. Maybe Argent has some idea of where the Darach might leave someone to die.” Jeorek handed his daughter the moth carefully. Parrish looked completely confused and like he wanted to protest and the Sheriff handing a civilian evidence. “Take this to Boyd, find out if he knows anything about how these things are used.”

“Got it. Be careful.”

“You too.”

Stiles headed back into the hospital and Jeorek turned back to the car. His brand new Deputy was watching him with question marks virtually dancing over his head. What a way to start your first night on the job. He looked from his deputy to the empty car, then he pulled out his phone to call Peter.

\- - -

There was no evidence of a struggle. Nothing was out of place. The doors were all intact, so there had been no forced entry. There was no blood. Derek couldn’t smell anything out of the ordinary. The clinic smelled like the clinic.

The only thing missing was the veterinarian.

Scott scoured the place from top to bottom, getting increasingly agitated the longer they looked for clues. Eventually Derek set his hands on Scott’s shoulders, looked his boyfriend in the eyes and told him to _breathe_ , dammit. Scott breathed. He stood there and looked at the man with the giant caterpillar eyebrows that he was in love with and wheezed his way to being calm.

Then he got out his phone and called Stiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about just ending it here. The hospital stuff took longer than I thought it would. I'm still plotting my way around the changes I've made to the story, but it progresses.
> 
> Up Next: A rescue, and a discussion about science and magic. Oh, and a kiss. Maybe two.


	68. Sixty-Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A search begins. A kiss is had. A rescue.

**_Sixty-Eight:_ **

_“There are times in life when people must know when not to let go. Balloons are designed to teach small children this.”_

_~ Terry Pratchett ~_

He heaves himself upward, the muscles in his arms straining with the effort of lifting the entirely of his body weight. He gasps several times, trying to pull enough air into his lungs. His arms give and he drops back down. The ropes pull at his arms and the muscles tremble with the pain. He holds his breath, then tries to breathe shallowly through the strain in his torso.

He is going to die. Very soon he won’t have the strength to pull himself upward to get a deep breath. Without those deep breaths he will suffocate.

It is not the death he had wished for.

He can only hope, pray, that the pack will find him in time to save him.

He doesn’t count his chickens though. Being saved is a long shot.

\- - -

Chris has an idea about the sacrifices at about the same time as Lydia starts going through Danny’s backpack. Danny was targeted, and not just because he made a good distraction. There were easier people to get to that would have made a good enough distraction. It took a lot to get past a werewolf’s senses in order to poison them. No, Danny knew something.

Chris spreads a map of Beacon Hills across the kitchen table and looks something up in an old book. Peter, who had come to tell Chris about the Darach, holds the map in place as Chris starts reading off the places where the bodies were found. Victoria marks each one off with a marker with a little x.

A pattern begins to emerge.

Lydia finds Danny’s extra credit science paper on telluric currents.

She flips through the thick paper, her eyes taking in more than anyone other than maybe Stiles could. She already knew most of this, she had helped Danny research some of it. She skimmed the in depth parts that she hadn’t seen before.

Then she called Peter.

Chris sees the pattern first, but only just. Victoria catches on next, if only because Peter takes the call from Lydia just then. Chris points and Victoria circles several places on the map. Peter repeats some of what Lydia tells him, and all the information coincides with the places that Victoria is circling.

Peter hangs up and he and Chris share a look. There are too many places to check. Peter will have to split up the wolves. It’s isn’t ideal with the Alpha Pack out there. Isaac and Jackson will have to go it alone. Scott is with Derek, and Peter can’t split them up, not on good conscious. Stiles is with the Sheriff, they’ve started finding bodies. Erica and Cora -

“I’ll call Allison, she and Matt can take one of the locations” Chris said, interrupting Peter’s musings. “I’ll take another.”

That means Isaac and Jackson can pair up, and Erica and Cora can stay together. Good. Peter nods to the hunter “I’ll take the furthest one, I’m the fastest.”

Chris nodded and pulled out his phone to call his daughter. Victoria left the room to arm herself. If Chris thought he was going into a dangerous situation he had another thing coming. Peter sent out his instructions, then vanished out the back door.

They had a life to save.

\- - -

“What are you doing here?” Lydia hissed, looking around in a panicked fashion, like she expected more wolves to pop out of thin air.

Aiden snorted “I’m checking up on you.”

Lydia sent the Alpha a dry glare “Really? Newsflash, I am not your responsibility.”

“There’s something weird going on here, Lydia” Aiden insisted.

Lydia fed her money into the coffee machine, refusing to look at the boy to her left “You mean besides the fact that your leader wants to kill us all?”

“Lydia -”

Lydia watched the cup drop and hot coffee (sure to taste absolutely horrifying) begin to drip into the cup. She turned to set Aiden with her patented icy glare that made people nearly faint in fear. “I don’t see why you care.”

“I do, though.”

Lydia sighed “Why?”

“I” Aiden stopped, then he swallowed. He bit his lip then he surged forward. Lydia made a surprised sound as he cupped her face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers. Lydia froze, eyes wide as Aiden kissed her.

She slapped him the moment he pulled away. “You don’t get to do that,” she said fiercely. “Never again without my permission.”

Then she walked away.

\- - -

The Sheriff was good at his job. He was a very good cop. He was intelligent, intuitive. He knew how to see patterns and motives and possibilities. It was a skill he had passed on to his daughter. The second crime scene of the night made him pause. As he watched the coroner and Markham lower the body of Dr. Hillyard to the ground the pieces began to click into place.

“Papa?”

He looked over at Stiles, who was looking at her phone with a frown on her face. “What is it?” he asked.

“We have several possible locations on where Deaton could be. There are a lot though. At least six, that we know of.”

“Is Peter sending people to check them?”

“Yes. The Argents are helping.”

Jeorek nodded “I have my own ideas.”

Stiles looked up at his grim voice. She trusted her father with every fibre of her being “I’m going with you.”

He didn’t argue. He’d had the better part of a year now to get used to the changes that becoming a werewolf had wrought in his child. He had also had enough time to come to terms with the idea that there were some things in the world that she was just more capable of handling than he was. What unsettled his father’s instincts (and his cop instincts) was that those things she was more prepared for were the more dangerous things that he would rather protect her from.

The Stilinskis turned to head for the Sheriff’s vehicle, but Stiles froze a few steps behind Jeorek. He paused, and turned to look at her.

“Stiles?”

She was looking across the street at the crowd that had gathered to watch the police activity in the empty shop front. He turned, following her gaze. There was a man standing at the edge of the crowd. He was mostly unassuming. Mostly. Sandy hair, dark glasses, a cane in one hand. Jeorek shrugged off the strangeness of a blind man stopping to observe police activity and _really looked_ at the man.

He was far too still to be just another human. He also had an unsettling smirk on his face.

“Stiles?” Jeorek asked again, softly, not taking his eyes off the man across the road.

“Go find Deaton” Stiles said. Her voice was even, calm. Jeorek recognized that voice. That was a voice her mother used to use when she had gone beyond mad and right into enraged. The kind of voice that promised violence.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Jeorek nodded, decided to go with his gut and turned to get in the SUV. The best thing to do when Claudia was like that was to get out of her way, it seemed the best thing to do with Stiles as well. As he pulled away from the curb, he glanced in the rearview mirror just in time to see Stiles step into the road toward the man.

\- - -

The Camaro careened around a corner and screeched to a halt. At this time of night, the street was quiet. The businesses lining the street were the kind that shut down at five o’clock. Maybe they were open until seven. Rarely.

There was no one around to see the young man practically fall out of the passenger seat, or the _wolf_ that climbed out of the driver’s seat.

Derek was in full beta form as he followed after Scott. Scott who was going as fast as he could for the hold in the wall that Derek himself had created not too long ago. He remembered the scent of brick dust as the wall crumbled beneath his hands. What they had found behind that wall had knocked them all for a loop.

Had given Derek back one of his sisters.

He kept an eye on their surroundings as Scott climbed through the hole into the bank vault. He yelled Deaton’s name and Derek followed the young man inside. What he saw when he got there sent a chill up his spine.

In the center of the room, hanging by wrists from a rope was Alan Deaton. He was pale, sweating, and gasping for breath. His entire body was shaking with the effort from pulling himself upward to breathe.

Scott dashed across the brick strewn floor and set his shoulder into Deaton’s calves. He locked his arms around his shins and pushed upward. Deaton rose a few inches. It was all he needed, he gasped in relief as oxygen filled his lungs.

“Derek! The rope!”

Derek unsheathed his claws and moved forward, preparing to jump for the rope above them. Something on the floor caught his eyes just as he hit what felt like a wall. He looked down solidly and then back up to meet Scott’s eyes, his own conveying worry.

“I can’t. It’s mountain ash.”

Wolf and teenager stared at each other in shock. Derek couldn’t get close enough to jump up and cut the rope. Scott could break the circle, but that would mean letting go of the vet he was holding up. He knew deep down, that if he let go, it would be too late and Deaton would probably die anyway. He couldn’t take that chance.

“Derek -”

“Get out of the way.”

Derek turned automatically to the vault door. Jeorek Stilinski was framed in the doorway, his service pistol out and ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so Deucalion just sort of snuck into that. I wasn't aware that he was going to be in this chapter. *shrugs*
> 
> So next up Deucalion and Stiles conversed, and some Steter feels.


	69. Sixty-Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A successful rescue. A confrontation. Derek is bamf, and some Steter feels.

**_Sixty-Nine:_ **

_“The trouble is, that this sort of things once it starts, grows.”_

_~ Agatha Christie, The Moving Finger ~_

Derek stepped to one side quickly. The Sheriff fired two shots. The rope snapped. Scott and the veterinarian collapsed to the floor. Jeorek was across the room quickly, toeing a line through the circle of mountain ash. Derek helped lift the gasping man off of Scott carefully. Scott wriggled out from under him and shrugged out of his jacket. He balled it up under Deaton’s head as Derek helped the man lay down. The Derek sliced off the remainder of the ropes.

“Yeah, I need a bus at Beacon Hills National Bank on Third and Cypress.” Jeorek was speaking into the radio clipped to his jacket.

Scott ducked out the door and returned quickly with the bottle of water that rode around into the Sheriff’s car. He knelt down next to Deaton, twisting off the cap and helped the exhausted man take a few sips.

“Help’s on the way, Alan.” Jeorek knelt near the man he could genuinely call his friend. “Just hold on.”

“I better call Peter” Derek said. “Tell him we found him.”

“Derek, there was a man at the crime scene I came from. I don’t think he was human. He certainly made Stiles angry.”

“What did he look like?”

“Average height. Sandy hair. Blind.”

Derek cursed, pulling out his phone and hitting the button to call his uncle. He tapped his foot impatiently. “Is Stiles still there?” he demanded.

“Yes. It’s a storefront on Beech just north of here.”

_“Derek?”_

“We found him.”

_“Good.”_

“Peter.”

 _“What is it?”_ Peter’s voice came through the line, sharp and concise.

“Deucalion is at a crime scene on Beech. Stiles is still there.”

_“Is she alone?”_

“Yes.”

_“Get there. Now. I’m on my way.”_

\- - -

“You seem to be everywhere you’re not wanted these days” Stiles said casually as she crossed the street to stand just out of reach.

Deucalion smiled benignly from his place behind the yellow police tape, “I’m a curious individual.”

“Oh, yeah?” A little grin crossed Stiles’ face. Pure sarcasm. “Wanted to look in on your dirty work, did ya?”

“I was not involved in this” Deucalion said, distaste coloring his voice. “It’s far too conspicuous.”

“What? Murder too mundane for you?”

“I’m surprised that you would accuse me of being so… banal Miss Stilinski.”

“He’s not going to do it, you know” Stiles changed the subject.

“Are you so sure of that?” Deucalion wondered, voice tinged with curiosity. He smiled gently, in a way that looked perfectly normal, but sent the wiggins crawling up Stiles’ spine.

“I’m sure” she said.

One of the Alpha’s eyebrows rose “I wouldn’t be so sure. After all, if you’re not around to ground him, what’s to stop him?”

Stiles felt herself freeze in shock. The world slowed down for what felt like minutes, but was really probably only a second or two. “So that’s your plan” she said softly. “Kill me and watch what happens in the aftermath? Even if you succeed in killing me, what makes you so certain Peter will kill everyone?”

“You are his anchor.” Deucalion tilted his head to one side, like a curious puppy. He was sizing her up. She didn’t know how he was doing it, being blind, but he was. “Without you he will become what he was. A monster. The others will try to put him down, and he will kill them for trying.”

“No.”

“Yes. By the time your precious Alpha returns to his senses, the damage will already be done.” Deucalion offered her a genuine smile. It was creepier than the first. “I wish you luck, in your last few minutes.”

Stiles straightened up. What? She glanced around quickly. The crowd had faded when the coroner’s van had left There was only one police car left, and it was empty. The deputies were probably inside finishing securing the scene. She turned back around to catch a glimpse of Deucalion fading into thinning crowd.

She scented the air, then turned at the scent that reached her.

Walking down the street toward her. Coming out of the shadows like some figment of nightmares, was a gigantic man. He was tall, with shaved hair and huge fangs. He smelled distinctly of hostile Alpha, like the rogue had smelled. His eyes began to glow.

A bright, demonic ruby red.

\- - -

Peter had shifted completely and was pelting full tilt toward the center of town. At that moment he didn’t care who saw him. He didn’t care how many calls animal control would get about a giant freaking black dog. He was faster in wolf form than he was in his beta form.

Stiles was in danger.

He had sworn to protect her. She was his future. He revolved around her like she was the sun. He knew she was his anchor. He also knew what would happen if she was killed because of him.

There would be no coming back for him.

As he ran he prayed that Derek would get there in time to aid her.

\- - -

Derek left the vault without a word to any of them. He pelted out of the hole in the side of the vault into the alley and just took off running. Beech was only two blocks north of his current location. It would be faster to go in a straight line. Yes! There!

Derek flung himself into the air and grabbed the fire escape on the building adjacent the bank. He was lucky that the building _had_ a fire escape. He wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, though. He pulled himself up onto the roof of the building and ran across it at full speed.

He flew over the gap between buildings. He barely cleared it, his claws digging into the bricks of the new building and he stopped his fall and then hauled himself upward. Then he continued running.

Eventually he saw them. Flashing red and blue lights were the sign he’d been looking for. He stopped at the edge of the roof he was on and looked down. The street below had cleared. There were one or two dark cars, plus the cruiser.

The big Alpha, Ennis, had Stiles in the air. She’d been hauled up and slammed into a wall hard enough her impact had dented the concrete. She was wolfed out, clawing at Ennis’ hand, leaving bloody gashes in her wake. As Derek watched, Ennis brought Stiles toward him and then slammed her back into the wall again.

Stiles looked dazed.

That was enough for Derek. He howled and leapt off the roof.

\- - -

Stiles clawed at the hand around her throat. For such a big guy, Ennis sure was _fast_. One second there had been at least fifteen feet between them, then there was nothing between them, not even air. She hadn’t had time to do much more than stare in shock.

Her back slammed into the wall for the second time and the back of her head bounced off it again. She winced as stars exploded across her vision. Thank heavens for wolfy healing, she decided.

A howl echoed into the night. She knew that howl. That howl was pack. She wanted to answer it, but she couldn’t. As her vision cleared she saw a figure coming toward her that she felt she should recognize. It wasn’t until Ennis was being hauled bodily away from her that she recognized Derek for what he was.

Godsent help.

Stiles slumped into an ungainly heap, gasping for air as she watched Derek _throw_ the Alpha. Her healing was working slower than normal, but Peter had said that hadn’t he? That wounds caused by an Alpha would heal slower than normal.

Derek was roaring, blue eyes flashing as he stood between the foreign Alpha and his injured packmate. Ennis roared back. His was the roar of an Alpha. The kind of roar with enough force behind it to make your typical Beta stumble.

Derek wasn’t your typical Beta, though, was he?

Derek was a born wolf. He was Second only to his Alpha. He _would_ protect his Pack Mother, even if it meant killing.

Ennis charged the annoying upstart beta. He stood his ground. Before the two could collide though, a gigantic black shape slammed into Ennis. Peter. Peter whose momentum propelled both himself and Ennis across the road and into the side of the cop car. There was a crunch of denting metal, and then Peter was between his betas and the enemy Alpha.

Ennis peeled himself out of the crater in the side of the car and shook himself as he stood up. He watched the snarling Alpha warily. It had been common knowledge that Talia Hale had been able to shift into an actual wolf. Ennis had seen it himself. The only similarities between Talia and her brother was their mutual black coloring. Peter was bigger, much _much_ bigger.

He looked like the thing that haunted your nightmares after watching one too many scary movies. The most frightening thing was not that there was a wolf beneath the monster. No, it was the fact that the monster lurked below the wolf that was frightening.

Ennis backed off. Peter took one growling step forward.

“Peter.”

He stopped, his head turned to see Stiles sitting on the ground. She was clutching her throat, heavily bruised and only just beginning to heal. She reached for him with her other hand, and Peter forgot about tearing the retreating Alpha limb from limb.

When he reached her he was human again, crouching down in front of her and pulling her gently into his arms. She was shaking, badly. the veins on his arms went dark as he leeched her pain from her. She slumped into him, her hand falling away from her bruised throat. She sighed and scent marked him back as he nosed at the top of her head, wanting to wipe away Ennis’ scent.

Derek stationed himself between them and the street as Peter reassured himself that his mate was okay. She clutched at his biceps for a few seconds before she thumped him tiredly on the arm.

“Babe. _Clothes_.”

Peter chuckled and stood, swinging her up into his arms., then he followed Derek into an alley and toward the camaro and the bank a couple blocks away.

“Seriously naked. Clothes, Peter, _clothes_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mwuahahahaha! I think that whole Stiles telling Peter he needs clothes is now a thing! I love it!


	70. Seventy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steter in the evening and Steter in the morning. After Deucalion and Stiles chat.

**_Seventy:_ **

_‘You have to walk carefully at the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover’s arms can only come later when you’re sure they won’t laugh if you trip.”_

_~ Jonathan Carroll, Outside the Dog Museum ~_

They’ve been in this position many times. It’s comforting, familiar, safe. Stiles was very aware of just how much danger she had been in that night. She was good, quick on her feet, agile. She’d been taught how to use her werewolf abilities to the best advantage. How to escape quickly, or stand and fight if necessary.

Ennis was so much stronger than her. Ennis was an Alpha.

Stiles shivered and the arms around her tightened. The old broom handle was stuck in the bed frame again, her quilt draped over it to create a tent space over her bed. She turned over quietly, so that she was facing Peter. Peter who was watching her with red Alpha eyes and an expression that was soft, but bordered on possessive.

She wiggled closer to him, curving her body into the protective curve if his. She had told him what Deucalion said. Of course she told him. They now knew exactly how the Alpha of Alphas intended to get Peter to do his bidding and kill how own pack. It was a harsh reality being confronted with something like that so bluntly.

She knew, she had figured it out pretty damn quick. That she held so much power over Peter. Her wellbeing and happiness had oftentimes (read: most of the time) been the crux and cause of his own. She had no allusions to the fact that that night in the forest when Peter had bitten her, her choice to hold onto him instead of let go had been a catalyst for so much.

If she had let go he probably would have left her there alone. She would have had to figure things out for herself. She wouldn’t have the friends she has, the pack. She would probably be lying to her father.

If it had been Scott.

Stiles closed her eyes, tucked her face into Peter’s neck and breathed him in. He smelled comforting. A good blend of his own strong scent and the lingering Old Spice scent from the clothes he wore. A worn Sheriff’s Department t-shirt and a pair of worn in gray sweats, both her father’s.

Scott being turned into a werewolf didn’t bear thinking about. Her brother loved being human, being the normal one. They would have had a very rocky path to tread if it had been Scott.

Peter hummed something. He didn’t say anything, just rumbled a few notes into the air that made his chest vibrate into Stiles. She relaxed minutely, the hand clutching a handful of the shirt went limp. He made a satisfied noise as he felt her relax. One of his hands migrated to her hair and she made a noise when he began running his fingers through it.

“What is it?” he asked softly into the crown of her head.

She sighed gustily into his neck, thoroughly scent marked him and then pulled away to look up into his now blue eyes. “I always knew I was helping keep you from flying apart” she started, then frowned a little. “It’s never been said out loud like that, not that bluntly. Not by -”

“An enemy” Peter finished.

Stiles nodded “It’s a lot of responsibility.”

Peter tilted her chin up when she went to look away. He waited until she made eye contact to speak. Then he said, “I won’t let him hurt you.”

“It isn’t me I’m worried about” Stiles replied. Her eyebrows drew together and she worried her lip between her teeth for a moment. “Do you remember the night you bit me?”

“Of course.”

“I held onto you.”

“Yes. If you hadn’t we wouldn’t be where we are. I would still be feral, you would most likely be alone.”

“I _chose_ to hold onto you.” Peter started at that, but Stiles didn’t let him speak. “There was a second there, right after you bit me, but before I registered the pain, where I thought that this was my choice. I could hold onto this thing and hope it didn’t eat me, or I could fight and most likely end up dead.”

Peter couldn’t articulate a response to that. He felt surprised of course, and shocked. Yes, it had been a decision made in the middle of a terrifying situation, but she had _chosen_.

“I don’t regret it.”

Peter kissed her then. Softly, and in a way that made her think fondly of the first kisses they had shared. They exchanged several more kisses. Unhurried ones that spoke of the kind of relationship that meant that they were comfortable with their clumsiness.

“I love you” Peter said, tilting his forehead to hers.

She smiled, “I love you too.”

She felt she always would. Their love had become just as much a part of her as being a werewolf had. He knew it, and he felt the same.

For now, that was enough.

\- - -

Early mornings in the Stilinski house was a chaotic production depending on how many people had stayed over the night before. Melissa had gotten in very, very late night before, and Jeorek hadn’t come home at all. When she had gotten through the door, scrubs wrinkled and dirty, hair drooping like her shoulders in exhaustion, she had found Isaac sleeping on the couch. Checking on her children revealed extra bodies in _both_ of their beds.

If she hadn’t known who those bodies belonged to _very_ well, she might have taken her bat to them. As it was, she sighed, shook her head, and shuffled off to bed.

It was Saturday, which was a nice change of pace for her. Melissa usually worked saturdays, so having one off was novel. She luxuriated in her nice warm bed, mourned the fact that her husband wasn’t there, then drifted into that half-awake, half-dreaming place most people find themselves in after having gotten a nice, deep, restful sleep.

Then there was a crash downstairs and Melissa knew her lie-in was well and over.

By the time she made it downstairs, Isaac was sitting on a stool at the bar counter with his chin propped in one hand and a tall glass of juice in front of him. Every few seconds his eyes would drift closed and his head would droop dangerously toward the glass. Scott was sitting next to Isaac, and he had completely given up. His head was cradled in his arms and she could hear the soft whistling sound he emitted just before he really started snoring.

Lydia was sitting primly at the table, one leg crossed over the other, in a stylish black and pink dress and a pair of kitten heels. She was rifling through the morning paper and ignoring Jackson and Danny. Danny was still a little pale, but Melissa had managed to push his release through just before she went home, so that he could leave first thing. Jackson had obviously been the one elected to pick him up. Jackson was nursing an elbow (his funny bone, by the look of it) and sneering at Cora.

Cora looked about as affected as a houseplant. She elbowed her way past the two boys and paused at Stiles’ side for a moment before heading for the table with her reward of a fresh strip of bacon.

Melissa sat down in her usual spot at the table, in the corner by the window so that the early morning spilled over her, warming her up gently. She picked through the sections of the paper that Lydia had discarded and pretended to read while she unashamedly observed Stiles and Peter over the top of the paper.

Stiles was standing at the stove, a towel over one shoulder and a spatula in hand. She was watching over the bacon and flipping pancakes while Peter drifted around her. She was a stationary object in his path, but he orbited around her. He was stirring something in a bowl, adding ingredients, then he was pouring an omelette into a pan, or flipping an omelette. Or he was washing fruit at the sink, or pouring drinks.

Every time he passed Stiles, the fingers of his free hand would brush along her back and she would give him a smile in return. Whenever he was waiting on eggs, he would wrap an arm around her from behind and she would lean into him and they would sway a little to whatever tune only they could hear.

It was very sweet, Melissa decided, almost sickeningly so. She thought that every time she got to watch the Stiles and Peter show. As the mom she was allowed to be as much of a busy body as she wanted to be. She liked that Stiles and Peter were so in love that they were like planets orbiting each other. It comforted her to know that Stiles future happiness was in good hands and that was one less thing she needed to worry about.

She eyed her son for a moment, smirking when he jerked awake at the sound of a plate being set down right next to his head. He mumbled a garbled thank you around a mouthful of eggs and pancake and Melissa thought about scolding him, but then realized she felt to lazy this morning to bother.

Scott was happy too. Not in the way that Melissa had always imagined, but in some ways this was better. She had always envisioned Scott bringing home a pretty young girl, both of them all blushes. Scott, instead, had brought home a big, dark haired, older man that Scott and Stiles not-so-secretly sometimes compared to grumpy cat.

But Scott was happy, Melissa knew, and she liked Derek just as much as she liked Peter. The happiness of her children was really all she could ask for as a mother.

As if summoned by her thoughts, Derek loomed up out of the hallway behind Scott. His hair was rumpled, one of his pant legs had ridden part way up his calf, and he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Out of everyone in the pack, Derek was not a morning person. While Scott and Isaac took second and third place, no one had Derek beat. He shuffled up behind Scott, wrapped himself around him and leaned on his back. Scott took the weight like he was used to being used for a body support and calmly fed his boyfriend bites of egg, bacon and pancake over his shoulder.

A plate was set down in front of Melissa, and she stopped pretending to be pretending to not be watching her children. She offered Peter a smile as he handed her a fork and he winked in reply before he went back to the kitchen.

She idled over her plate for a minute, wondering where to start. The pancakes were stacked up three high, with a slightly darker coloring to them that told her that they were _not_ regular pancakes, but were, in fact, Stiles’ special banana pancakes. The omelette was loaded with mushroom, spinach, ham and tomatoes and was oozing cheese at her. She hummed happily and dug in.

In the kitchen Stiles paused in her pancake flipping as Peter returned and they she shared a couple of soft morning kisses over the stove. Someone whistles loudly and Cora threw her banana peel at them.

The Alpha pair separated, grinning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, ok, so I meant for this to be the fluffiest fluffy to ever fluffy, and while I do think I hit that mark at the end, the beginning is more maudlin and emotional that I had originally intended. But I think it helps to show that both Stiles and Peter are aware of that basic thing that changed them both so very, very much.
> 
> One reviewer, one darksmistress, wondered if I would be going into the choice made at the beginning of the fic and tying it all together neatly. I've been playing with the idea of some plottiness having to do with that. There are so very many ways it could go that I need to sort that stuff...
> 
> So this fic may actually turn out to be even longer than originally planned. (not that that says much, since I had originally planned for like, 20 chapters and I've since blown that out of the water.)


	71. Seventy-One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A battle between the packs.

**_Seventy-One:_ **

_“Wait, I got it. We, uh, won the battle and lost the war, or was it the other way around? ‘Cause around here, it’s hard to tell sometimes.”_

_~ Kami Garcia, Beautiful Creatures ~_

Several days later (more like a week, but who’s counting?) and Scott has an encounter in an elevator that leaves him shaking in his shoes. He’d gone downtown with Jeorek to buy his very own motorcycle (read: dirtbike) and had needed to go to the insurance company to list the bike. Easily done, but the elevator ride back down had been fairly uncomfortable.

It’s not every day you spend a couple of minutes standing next to the man who had told your sister he wanted to kill her, and then had his lackey go ahead and try.

The message he carried out was grim. Deucalion wanted to talk to Peter. Alone. Perhaps find a way to settle this whole thing once and for all. Scott hadn’t believed a word of it when it came out of Deucalion’s mouth, but he dutifully carried the message to his Alpha.

Peter hadn’t believed it either.

In the end, it was decided to take the meeting. If what Deucalion really wanted was to talk, great. If not, well, Peter was all for getting this over with once and for all. They had other problems to worry about. Somehow, most of the members (all, really) of the Hale Pack was finding the ritual murders more menacing that a group of five Alphas whose motive they’d been told already.

They didn’t know what the Darach wanted.

There was an old shopping mall complex on the east side of town that had been shut down for some time. A developer had recently come in and bought the property with the intention of remodeling and refurbishing it into a working mall. As it was, it stood vacant on the weekends and at night.

Peter went in alone at first. His betas all stood at their entry points, ready to move at the slightest sign of trouble. The great thing was, Deucalion and his Alpha’s were very much out numbered. There were only five of them, there were eight of them.

Humans had been banned from the encounter. There was very little Scott, Lydia, Boyd or the Sheriff could do in closed quarters to help. Firearms were only so good if could hit what you were aiming at. This logic was used in deciding not to inform the Argents of what would be happening.

“It seems you have the high ground,” Peter’s voice was laced with irony as he looked up at Deucalion from the bottom of the escalator.

“It would appear that way, wouldn’t it?”

“Do you really believe that I will give you what you want?” Peter asked, cutting through all the chit chat they would probably have gone through if he wasn’t so very _pissed off_.

Deucalion raised an eyebrow over the top of the dark glasses he habitually wore. He twirled his cane in his hand “No, I don’t suppose you will. Not by choice, at least.”

Peter sighed to himself, his mask of affability staying put at he gazed at the other Alpha. Silence reigned over the area for a moment before a slight scratching sound caught Peter’s ears. His head canted to one side as he tried to pinpoint the sound (like nails on a chalkboard), the acoustics of the building were open and prone to echoing.

He turned just in time to see Kali claw-sliding her way down a concrete pillar to his left. She landed on the ground with a bloodthirsty smirk on her face as Ennis loomed up out of the darkness on his right. Peter’s gaze, now Alpha red, flashed back up to Deucalion as the escalator started up.

The Alpha of Alphas was now flanked on either side by one of the twins.

Peter bared his fangs in a savage grin as he said: “So your plan was to ambush me?”

“It seems to have worked, you are, after all, by definition the good guy in this fable” Deucalion said primly.

Peter’s grin now matched Kali’s for savagery “You forget that I was the bad guy when it started.”

Out of the shadows behind him came several of his betas. Derek on his right, taking his place as his Second. Stiles stood at Peter’s left, Isaac to her left, and Danny to Derek’s right. Bookending Ennis and Kali to the far sides of the floor came Jackson on one side and Cora and Erica on the other.

The twins launched themselves off the mezzanine, and the battle began.

\- - -

Scott sat quietly, his forehead pressed up against the glass of the school bus window. Stiles sat next to him, he hand clutching his as he squeezed for all he was worth. She let him, it was the only thing she really felt like she could do under the circumstances.

Up at the front of the bus, Matt sat sideways, his eyes guardedly watching the twins who were sitting just a couple of rows behind him. He was well aware of what had happened. Allison had somehow figured out what was going on and had tailed someone to the mall complex. She had called Matt for a ride after everything was over.

He’d given more than just his girlfriend a ride home last night.

Just in front of Scott and Stiles, Isaac was too busy boxing Jackson in to be able to properly keep an eye on the two enemies in their midst. Jackson had a murderous expression on his face, and he kept flashing bits of fang, his eyes not leaving the twins at all. Jackson, at least, was furious enough for all of them.

Halfway between Matt and Jackson, on the opposite side of the bus, was Danny. Danny, who Boyd had sat next to in order to shield him from Ethan. Ethan who would not take his eyes off of Danny at all. Danny was hunched low in his seat, frowning as he tried to avoid looking in Ethan’s direction.

“They’ll find him, Scottie” Stiles whispered.

Scott finally turned away from the window and let himself sink into Stiles’ shoulder. A familiar place of comfort that Scott hadn’t needed in quite some time. “Are you sure?”

“He’s not dead” Stiles said. She had some doubt, but she hid it well. “When Jackson, Cora and Peter went back to find him, he wasn’t there.”

“They could have dragged him off” Scott whispered, his eyes flickering up to Aiden and Ethan. Aiden was frowning at him from his seat.

“No. Peter would have been able to discern that much. They took Ennis, but not Derek.”

Scott nodded dubiously, then prodded Stiles’ side. “How’s the ribs?”

Stiles grimaced, but allowed Scott to take her mind off of watching Derek and Ennis plummet several stories down. She had taken Kali’s claws to her left side, which had the added bonus of cracking several of her ribs. Since the wounds were Alpha caused, they were healing at a much slower rate than she preferred. “Slowly” she said. “But I think the bones are almost done healing.”

“Good” Scott said, then turned his eyes back to the window.

\- - -

Trailing behind the bus carrying the cross-country team was Allison’s little Toyota. Traffic was backed up for miles due to a bad crash on the two lane highway, and they had been slowly moving forward at about twenty feet a minute. Both girls in the car were about as frustrated as a girl could get.

“So they’re okay?” Allison asked again.

Lydia sighed. She had answered this question several times already. The answer never changed, and she had been elected to be the one to keep in touch with Peter, so she would know. “Erica took a good knock to the head, but she’ll be fine. Cora came out unscathed.”

“They’re helping look for Derek?”

Lydia nodded. They were the only ones who could. The Sheriff couldn’t help without filing a missing persons report, which would bring more attention to his already taxed department. He had instead, taken on the watch for the Darach by himself while Peter set about searching for Derek.

A heavily wounded Derek, if the fall Allison had witnessed was anything to go by. The boys and Stiles were all on the team. This meet was mandatory if they wanted to be eligible to play Lacrosse this year. Erica wasn’t on the team, so she could logically stay behind to help Peter. Cora had decided, after three months of captivity, to take the semester off while her paperwork to get her into Peter’s custody was sorted out. So Cora had stayed behind as well.

Allison tapped her hands against the steering wheel, craning to try and look through the windows on the back of the bus.

“They’re okay.”

“They’re not okay” Allison snapped. Then she sighed “Sorry. It’s just…”

“It’s Derek” Lydia nodded knowingly. It had taken a while for Allison to get over the idea that Scott had basically blown her off for a guy. Matt had helped, but she still felt something for Scott, she probably always would. Mostly she wanted Scott to be as happy as she had found herself being with Matt.

Derek missing, wounded and presumed dead was not a recipe for a happy Scott.

“They won’t try anything” Lydia said, voice steady (even if her face didn’t look it). “They lost someone too, you know.”

“Right” Allison nodded, and went back to tapping at the steering wheel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so originally I wanted to skip Motel California, but then I realized that with the battle that takes place in Frayed (and since Ennis dies there, I couldn't very will skip that) is a lead in to the episode. So I realized I sort of had to do it or deviate hugely. I don't want any massive plot holes, so we're going into a bit here that I hadn't actually pre-planned my way through.
> 
> Sorry.
> 
> So next chapter will deal with Motel California.


	72. Seventy-Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deaton gets unwanted visitors, the pack spends the night at a creepy motel.

**_Seventy-Two:_ **

_“People always ask why we wait so long for a certain person… Do not ask the person itself. She does not know the answer.”_

_~ Ma Ma Nov. 1, 2012 ~_

There is a certain kind of restlessness that accompanies waiting for things. When you feel the urge to do _something_ , but can’t. This is the sort of energy that slowly filled the bus to capacity and made even those not involved in the current crisis, restless and grumpy.

Coach Finstock (who already loved using it) took to using his whistle for every minor thing. Stiles had gotten so sick of it, she’d complained, had it blown in her face, and been forbidden to talk for the rest of the trip. Greenburg had it blown in his face when he threw up all over the floor of the bus, causing the fastest mass exodus in the history of buses.

They stopped at a rest stop long enough for a hose to be used on the vomit and for Lydia and Allison to yell at Stiles and Isaac over the wounds that they were still sporting. Then it was back on the bus and back onto a crowded highway.

“I don’t remember you being on my bus” Coach said that night as the sun sank low on the horizon. Lydia stared at him nonplussed as she held out her hand for a motel room key. He stared back for a moment, then handed her a key “Fine. But just so we’re clear, I’m doing this under duress. You were not supposed to be my responsibility Miss Martin.”

“Thank you, Coach” Lydia said with a winning smile, then she dragged Allison away.

“Stilinski! McCall! McCall-Stilinski! Whatever! You two, front and center!” Coach yelled. “We have an odd number of girls and boys, you two are sharing.”

Scott shrugged and took the key from him. They had already planned to do that, anyway. As they headed for the stairs that led to their room, Stiles looked around, frowning. “Do you hear that?” she asked.

“Hear what?” Scott asked.

Stiles shook her head. Whatever it was, it was gone now. “Nothing.”

\- - -

The bell over the door at the front of the clinic chimed, making Alan look up from his computer. He frowned and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was fairly late in the day for customers. He didn’t run a twenty-four hour clinic. He stood and headed out into the front reception area.

And was suddenly very glad that the desk and partition were made of mountain ash.

“It would seem” Deucalion said mildly, “that we are in need of your services.”

Alan stared at the Alpha for a second, then his gaze went to the brute of a wolf draped across the shoulders of two women. One was obviously a wolf, if the fangs and flashing eyes were any indication. The other was a petite, dark skinned woman with familiar almond shaped eyes.

“We’re closed” Alan said, voice even.

“I don’t think so” Deucalion replied. “You took an oath, did you not?”

Alan Deaton frowned at that. He knew the Alpha was talking about his oath as an Emissary, not as a vet. Reluctantly he let the wolves through the barrier and the women hauled Ennis through to the treatment room.

His sister avoided his gaze.

\- - -

“This place is completely creepy” Lydia decided as she watched Allison brush her teeth. The redhead’s head tilted to one side and her eyebrows scrunched like she was trying to listen to something that was on a very low volume setting.

“What’s so bad about it?” Allison asked. “I mean, besides the retro decor?”

Lydia shook her head and smiled at Allison just enough to reveal a dimple in one cheek. “I’m going to get more towels” she said. Then she stood up and left the room. Allison watched her go, confused, then she shrugged and went back to her evening routine.

As Lydia went down the steps toward the office she took note of a dazed looking Jackson standing next to a vending machine, Boyd standing next to him with a look on his face like he couldn’t figure out what Jackson’s deal was. To Lydia, it was _Jackson_. He didn’t need a reason to be a psycho.

“Excuse me?” she called when she reached the window of the office. “Hello? I need some new towels, ours reek of nicotine.”

“I’m sorry about that, hon” said the woman on the other side of the window. She turned to face Lydia and she tried to resist wincing. The tube in her throat and the cigarette dangling from the woman’s lips revealed the problem. “I’ll get those towels.”

Lydia nodded silently and looked around while she waited. When the woman returned, Lydia took the towels and gestured to the wall “What do those numbers mean?”

The woman glanced up at the 198 on the wall and smiled. “We’ve got the highest rate of suicides in all of California. One hundred, ninety-eight and counting.”

“Oh” Lydia replied, then walked away, creeped out over the fact that the woman had seemed more amused than anything else.

\- - -

“He’ll live.” Deaton decides, stepping away from Ennis with a frown. “So long as nothing else happens. It will be a while before he’s on his feet.”

“Thank you, Dr.” Deucalion said, voice pleasant.

Deaton nodded, lips pressed together in a thin line as he made his way into the back to clean up. Marin followed. He had expected her to try to to talk to him. He lets her stew as he meticulously washes his hands.

“You’re not going to talk to me?” Marin Morell asked.

“What can I say? You seem to have picked a side.” Alan replied, voice mild.

Her eyes narrowed “I am doing what we have always done. Keep the balance.”

“Explain to me how, exactly, aiding an Alpha Pack creates balance in any way?” Alan demanded, turning to glare at his younger sister. “Do you know what they’ve done?”

“Oh, and I suppose you’re not still helping the Hale Pack?”

“I am not the Hale Emissary, anymore, Marin.”

She scoffed “Am I supposed to believe that? You were entrenched with Talia for so long. You loved her.”

“Talia Hale is dead, Marin” Alan replied with a sigh. “Peter doesn’t want my help. The Hale Pack is strong, they bring peace and balance to the region. You know why that’s so important here.”

“The Nemeton -”

“The Nemeton needs protectors. We can’t do that, not without feeling the pull of the power.”

“So you help the pack to keep the Nemeton in balance?”

“Not for much longer” Alan said. “Just until Vernon is fully trained.”

“Vernon?” Marin looked confused for a moment, then horrified. “You’re training Noya’s boy?”

Before he could answer a roar came from the street outside. Both druids ran from the room to find out what was going on. Unlike Marin, Alan stopped in the treatment room. Grief and hate had caused that roar. He looked at the body on his table and shook his head. Deucalion would not tolerate weakness.

Not if Ennis’ crushed skull was anything to go by.

\- - -

The rest of the night turns to chaos. With so many wolves about it’s like a pantomime of the creepiest nightmare any of them could dream up. Stiles wrestles a saw away from Ethan at the same time that Aiden goes for the work light that blisters skin on contact. Scott wisely pulls the plug before any blood is shed.

Lydia starts hearing voices. Conversations between dead people and more deaths than she wants. It leads them to Isaac, who is under his bed thinking he’s trapped in the freezer in his father’s basement. It takes both Matt and Scott to get him out.

Allison finds Boyd in the bathroom of the room he’s sharing with Danny, screaming at the top of his lungs while he tries to lift the air conditioning unit off the other boy sunk inside a filled bathtub. Aiden helps get it off with his Alpha strength.

By this time they’ve decided they need to get out of the motel, something there is driving them crazy. Werewolves are already highly emotional anyway. Lydia sees disaster coming for them in the form of a shadowy figure at the edges of her vision.

Jackson is found frantically scooping ice out of the big metal ice box, waist deep, telling someone he’s coming. It takes both Danny and Ethan to pry him out of the container. By the time they do, his teeth are chattering and his fingers are split and bleeding.

They’ve gotten everyone out of the motel, but in the chaos of saving everyone, Scott loses track of Stiles. Stiles who has always been around at Scott’s elbow always ready to get them into trouble (or out of it).

They don’t find her until Danny and Ethan are helping a traumatized Isaac onto the bus.

The following five minutes are the longest and worst five minutes that Scott can recall in his seventeen years of life. Stiles has lit a road flare and poured gasoline over her head. Her usually vibrant eyes are vacant, and Scott can barely see his best friend in them. It takes some deep breaths, some soothing words, and Scott walking out into the middle of that puddle of gasoline to get her to hand him the flare.

“What would I do without you? What would Dad do? _Peter_?”

After that, they sleep on the bus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay... So I hope I did okay with that bit. I wanted to do it justice without dragging it out.
> 
> Peter's search for Derek is next, and Jennifer Blake and Derek finally meet.
> 
> Hold onto your hats.


	73. Seventy-Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and what happens after the fight.

**_Seventy-Three:_ **

_"But it was like a dance across a field strewn with razors, and I bled with every step I took."_

_~ Ann Aguirre ~_

When he woke, all Derek could feel was the pain. It took time for his mind to move past it enough to think of anything else. Thought settled in at about the same time as his vision swam into focus.

So _that_ was why he hurt so much.

He stared up at the floor where he _should_ have been, then rolled onto his side. He coughed as his ribs were jarred, spit out the mouthful of blood, then he slowly heaved himself to his feet. A few feet away Ennis lay across the steps of an escalator, bleeding freely and heavily. At the sight Derek began to remember what had happened in flashes.

He needed to get out of here.

Either the Alpha Pack had won, and they would come for Ennis and, in the process, finish him off. Or his own pack had won and they would come for him first. Or it had been a draw after he and Ennis went over the ledge. The third option seemed more likely. Losing his biggest enforcer would make Deucalion cautious, he had already been outnumbered. The loss of one of them would put them nearly at two-to-one odds with Peter’s pack.

It was two-to-one with the twins conjoined like that… And wasn’t that just creepifying on a whole new level?

No matter what, it wasn’t safe for Derek to stay here. He couldn’t risk being found by the Alpha Pack, and he was too vulnerable to wait for rescue. He wouldn’t be able to fend off a fly in this condition.

He needed help.

He needed Scott.

\- - -

Jennifer liked to work late. She liked the school after all the students were gone. When the fading light of day made shadows crawl across the walls of her classroom. She would sit at her desk and mark papers, prepare for the next day. So it wasn’t that unusual for her to be there that late in the evening.

It happened while she was walking out to her car, searching in her bag for her keys as she went. A tall, dark haired man wandered into her path. It wouldn’t have been unusual except for the fact that he didn’t so much wander as stagger. There was also the fact that he was covered in bloody gashes.

“A-are you okay?” Jennifer asked, carefully keeping her distance.

The man turned and Jennifer noted that he would be beautiful if wasn’t for the wounds. He blinked at her, obviously disoriented. He swayed on the spot, opened his mouth to speak, and then crashed to the ground, out cold.

Jennifer dropped her bag and rushed over to him. She knelt next to him to check to see if he was still breathing when she got a good look at his wounds. Those weren’t just gashes, those were claw marks. Her eyes narrowed as she took a very good look at the man.

A werewolf.

He wasn’t one of Deucalion’s minions, which mean that there was a local pack she didn’t know about. With any luck this particular werewolf had had a bad run in with one of Deucalion’s lot. If that was true she might just have allies in defeating him.

If she played this right, she might just end up with a _wolf of her very own_.

Jennifer quickly found her keys and then dragged the unconscious werewolf into the vehicle. It was easier than it probably looked. She was stronger than she seemed, even in the stiletto heels she was wearing. She quickly made sure that there was no evidence that someone had been bleeding on the pavement. Then she got in her car and drove away.

\- - -

“Anything?”

“There’s no sign of him.” Peter shook his head as he stared down at the two pools of blood quickly drying in front of him. It was obvious that Ennis had been retrieved, there were two sets of footprints in the dust around the larger of the two blood pools.

“Do you think they got him?” Cora asked. She was good at masking her nervousness, but Peter was the kind of person who enjoyed observing other people. He was also and Alpha. That helped.

“There’s no evidence that anyone helped Derek at all.”

Erica appeared out of the shadows, eyes glinting. “I found a scent. He went that direction” she pointed.

Peter nodded and gestured for Erica to lead. The blonde turned and the trio of wolves headed into the darkness, following a scent that was covered far too much by blood for any of them to feel comfortable with.

Healthy wolves can travel at much greater speeds than wounded ones. A path that had taken Derek the better part of a day took the trio just a couple of hours to traverse. When they reached the end of if, they were standing in the high school parking lot.

“Why would he come here?” Erica asked. “Wouldn’t it make more sense for him to have gone back to the house, or to Stiles’?”

Cora crouched over the bit of the blacktop where the scent was the strongest. “The scent just ends here. He got in a car, probably.”

“Or got put into one. I’m amazed he made it this far on his own.” Erica’s eyebrows knitted together as she tried to puzzle out why Derek would come to the school.

“Scott” Peter said. His eyes were shadowed, the scruff of his unshaven face darkening the lines of his cheeks to make him look gaunter. More sinister.

“Scott?”

“At this time of day Scott would be at school. Scott is Derek’s safe place.”

Erica had a dawning look of comprehension on her face. “He has medical knowledge. Not only is he Derek’s mate, but he could help him more than most of us.”

Peter nodded. He looked around the darkening lot contemplatively. “There’s no way he could have remembered that Scott wasn’t in school today. He won’t have remembered about the meet.”

“Scott’s on the bus” Cora said. “So who’s helping him?”

“Are we sure they’re helping?”

“We have to hope they are” Peter said. “I don’t smell any of the Alphas… or any of Argent’s men.”

“A civilian then.” Cora said.

“Let’s hope so” said Erica. “What do we do?”

“A sweep,” Peter told them. “We’ll start here and fan out. Hopefully one of us will be able to catch his scent. Stay in touch, hourly. I don’t need either of you missing.”

The two betas nodded, and then the three were off. They could only hope that Derek was healing.

\- - -

He isn’t sure where he is when he wakes up. In a bed somewhere. The only light is coming from a single dim lamp on the bedside table. The door was open and light spilled out from the room beyond. Everything hurt. From his top to his toe he _ached_. He stayed stationary as all the jumbled up pieces of the last day came back to him and clicked into place.

“You’re awake.”

Derek turned his head at the sound of the voice. There was a woman standing by the door now. Tall, dark hair. He didn’t recognize her. “Where?” he asked.

“You’re in my apartment” she told him as she came into the room carrying a tray. “You passed out in the parking lot at the high school.”

“Right.” He watched her set the tray on the bedside table. He could smell soup (chicken noodle, vaguely metallic, out of a can), and antiseptic. The woman herself was surrounded by a cloud of jasmine so strong he figured if he wasn’t so hurt he might sneeze. “Who are you?”

“Jennifer Blake.” She smiled at him, then helped him sit up. “I teach English.”

“Why are you helping me?” Derek asked after he drank the water and painkillers she offered. What he really wanted to know was why some pretty little English Lit teacher hadn’t just called the cops.

“You needed it. You could have died.” Her eyes were wide “I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like being blamed for the death of a member of the local werewolf pack.”

Derek visibly jerked in surprise. Jennifer laughed flatly “I grew up around wolves. I’m human, if you were wondering.”

“I know.” He did know. He carefully checked the soup when she offered it before he began to eat. She watched him avidly as he did. He eyed her warily in return. A human, not affiliated with a pack, in Hale Pack territory at the same time an Alpha Pack was trying to destroy them was highly suspect. Add on the ritualistic murders happening in town and it became even more suspicious. Humans that were raised around wolves, associated with them, or generally knew about them were very rarely ever ordinary.

“You’re healing,” Jennifer said after a few minutes. She reached out to touch one of his bandaged arms. “Slowly, but you are. I did what I could.”

Derek nodded, then set the empty bowl aside and went about hauling himself to his feet. “I need to get home.”

She nodded, looking worried “Are you sure you’re up for it? I could give you a ride?”

“I’m fine” Derek said, then he headed for the door.

She followed him “Do I at least get to know your name?”

He paused at the front door, turning his head back with a frown. “It’s Derek… and, thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Derek” Jennifer said to the front door as it clicked closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there you have it, the first meeting of Derek and Jennifer Blake. I wanted her to do the kind thing. For her own selfish reasons of course, but Derek doesn't know that.
> 
> Up next: Derek returns home, and we get some reunions and a little bit of peace.


	74. Seventy-Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and Scott reunite. Stiles and Peter have a conversation.

**_Seventy-Four:_ **

_“The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”_

_~ Maya Angelou, All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes ~_

Derek didn’t make it all the way home before he had to sit. He sat on the curb in front of the Johnson’s house on Holly huffing as he cradled his bandaged ribs. He sat there trying to remember what breathing was like and wondering whether or not the fact that an English Literature teacher knowing about werewolves was something he should be concerned about.

He should probably mention it to Peter either way.

While Derek sat there, legs extended out into the street looking like he was going to just drop over dead, old Mrs. Johnson was peering out her front window with a frown on her face. Mrs. Johnson was the town’s favorite grandmother. She was considered an authority in the raising of children, relationships and the character of the people about town. You wanted Mrs. Johnson to like you. She had two grandsons in the Sheriff’s Department, a granddaughter that worked at the hospital and her oldest son was the mayor.

If Mrs. Johnson didn’t like you she had the power to make you feel it.

Thankfully for Derek Hale, Mrs. Johnson liked him, if only by merit of the way he treated young Scott Stilinski. She pursed her brightly painted lips as she watched him sitting out in the sun, then she picked up the phone and dialed a very familiar number.

_“Gran?”_

“Joseph” Mrs. Johnson said, a tone in her voice that told Deputy Markham that his grandmother wanted something.

 _“Is everything okay?”_ he asked.

“The Hale boy is sitting outside on the curb, Joseph.”

 _“Hale -”_ a tinny crash came over the phone, making Mrs. Johnson frown.

“Yes. Derek Hale. Would you call someone? It would be inconvenient if he died in front of my house.”

Markham didn’t seem fazed that her only concern over an apparently badly hurt Derek Hale was whether or not his death would inconvenience _her_. He informed her that he would see to it and she hung up the phone. She peered through the drapes again and frowned thoughtfully as the boy slumped against the post that held up her mailbox.

\- - -

They were woken up to the shrill of Coach’s whistle and him screaming at them all the wake up. Every one of the eleven kids sleeping on the bus jumped violently. All of them had gotten very little sleep, none of it restful. Stiles and Scott both smelled vaguely of gasoline even though they’d both showered quickly before the retreat to the bus.

A few of the more volatile wolves sent flashing grumpy eyes at Coach Finstock. If he noticed, he didn’t say anything. Stiles had a healthy respect for the man’s dedication to the certain amount of denial he lived in.

Coach went to blow his whistle again and jumped himself when Lydia grabbed it out of his hand. She covered the slit at the top and blew into it. When she pulled it away the palm of her hand was covered in a fine purple powder. “Wolfsbane.”

Everyone frowned as the rest of the team climbed onto the bus. Finstock yanked the whistle out of Lydia’s hand and reminded her that she and Allison weren’t on his roster. The two girls gathered their things and as they clambered off the bus Stiles did a quick calculation in her head. She waited until the bus started to pull away and Coach was passing her before she used all her werewolf speed to snatch the whistle. Scott had the window open in a trice and the contaminated whistle sailed out onto the pavement.

Coach spluttered.

Allison’s car ran the little silver object over as it followed the bus back out onto the highway.

Scott’s phone rang. He spent a moment fumbling with his pockets before he answered it. “Hello?”

_“Scott, we found Derek.”_

\- - -

Stiles followed after Scott as he powered into the clinic. He had somehow found a second wind after the Sheriff’s phone call. For once it was Stiles that was struggling to keep up with the other. She tipped herself through the mountain ash partition and into the exam room and couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face.

Derek had a scowl on his face that told all and sundry that he was pouting. Scott had climbed up onto the table next to the grumpy wolf and was babbling happily as he examined every inch of Derek that he could reach.

A hand settled on her shoulder and something inside her loosened up. She glanced up at Peter with a grateful smile and then let him tug her into his side. She settled there comfortably and closed her eyes with a happy little hum.

“Why do you smell like gasoline?”

Stiles winced and sighed “It’s a long story.”

“Should I be concerned?” there was steel underneath the quiet voice.

Stiles shook her head “I don’t think so.” Then she explained about the tainted whistle and the hallucinations all the wolves had because of it.

“The Darach?” Peter asked.

“I think so. Poison’s been used to distract us before.”

“Hmmm.” Peter went silent for a minute and they watched Derek fend off Scott. Derek gently took both of Scott’s wrists in his hands to keep them from poking at him and then he kissed him to shut him up.

“I’m worried about Lydia, I’m starting to wonder if she’s completely human.” Stiles tugged Peter out the back door of the clinic so that they could talk without interrupting the pair inside. She leaned against the wall. “She knows there’s something going on too. She’s scared, but won’t show it.”

“I have a few ideas” Peter replied. “I need more evidence to have any concrete theories though.”

Which was Peter-speak for he wasn’t going to share anything until he was sure. Stiles nodded once, then moved on. “The twins concern me a little more than Lydia.”

“How so?”

“The’re unwavering in their loyalty to Deucalion, and yet…”

“Danny and Lydia.”

Stiles nodded. She heaved another sigh and Peter boxed her in, leaning a forearm against the wall to either side of her head. Her hands came up to cradle his elbows and she let her head fall to the side as he thoroughly scent marked her. The traces of gasoline slowly faded to be replaced by the scent of her Alpha.

“They have a choice to make. I don’t think they’ve ever really had options before” Peter said, breath ghosting against her neck.

“If they leave Deucalion they’d have to give up their Alpha power.” It was not a question. Stiles knew that the only chance the twins would have of being accepted by Peter was as Betas, and possibly not even then. They had killed, willingly and without the excuse of being crazed and packless behind them.

“That is beyond our control. All we can do is be prepared for the fallout,” Peter said, “and trust Danny and Lydia to know themselves.”

Stiles gave in to the urge and pulled herself up to scent mark Peter back. He let her with a pleased rumble and kissed her when she was finished. They shared a few lazy kisses in the alley next to the animal clinic in the late afternoon shadows.

“What happened to Derek?”

Peter huffed grumpily. He frowned for a moment. “I think we might have a lead on the Darach?”

Stiles jerked in surprise “What?”

“Derek managed to make as far as the school before he collapsed. Jennifer Blake found him and tended his wounds.”

“She didn’t take him to the hospital?” Peter shook his head. Stiles’ eyes narrowed. “She knew he was a werewolf already?” Peter nodded. “She is new this year. Only just moved to town just before the semester started.”

“I’m aware. Derek thought it was strange as well.”

“We’re not lucky enough for it to be a coincidence that a human in the know just _happened_ to move to town at the same time as the murders started, are we?”

“No.”

“And the murders started right around the same time as the Alpha Pack got here.”

“Are you thinking they might be connected?” Peter asked. The same thought had crossed his mind as well. In his recent experience _everything_ was interconnected. Not a coincidence in sight.

“I think we’re not stupid enough to disregard the possibility.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there you are. Hopefully I'll get more out in the next couple of days. I have an amazingly ugly cold that had been made worse because of my asthma so I've basically been sleeping and watching Harry Potter movies since Sunday and I only just started to feel better.
> 
> Sorry about the delay. More as soon as I can manage.
> 
> Up Next: Philosophers and more on Lydia's mysterious abilities.


	75. Seventy-Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The recital.

**_Seventy-Five:_ **

_“Life is for the living._

_Death is for the dead._

_Let life be like music._

_And death a note unsaid.”_

_~ Langston Hughes, The Collected Poems ~_

It isn’t Jennifer’s idea to hold a benefit concert for the families of the people who have been murdered in recent weeks. The idea, well it _benefits_ her, so she volunteers to organize it. She sets the time for just the right time in the evening on just the perfect day for her purposes.

After all, why not take advantage of the situation?

A few nights before the recital one of the Sheriff’s deputies is found dead on school property. Her throat’s been cut and it’s the Sheriff’s kids that find her. It’s perfect, because it hits close to home for the local werewolf pack and therefore distracts them away from her. The (as far as they know) plain old human that just happens to know about werewolves.

It lets her plot and plan without having to look over her shoulder. She wants Derek, and killing his pack will only push him further away from her. Oh, they’re all going to die. Don’t get her wrong. She plans to use them to enact her revenge against Deucalion and Kali. It is inevitable that the Alphas will kill several of them.

The Guardians she has chosen are also among their numbers.

The day before the recital Jennifer hears two of them talking. Lydia Martin and the Argent girl. They’re talking about the night the cross country team spent holed up in that cursed motel north of town and Jennifer pauses to realize that the wolves aren’t the ones she needs to be worried about figuring her out.

It’s Lydia.

Smart, pretty, popular Lydia who sees too much. The little tidbits of information tell Jennifer that there is something supernatural about the girl. She’s simply oozing an otherworldliness that just simply _will not do._

So Jennifer takes matters into her own hands. She knows that there will be wolves aplenty at the recital. After the deputy they will all expect something to happen. Which it will, no doubt about that. The twins show up. Deucalion is concerned about the murders after everything. He knows ritual when he smells it.

The Hale Pack is out in force. One of them is in the band. The Argents all show up. They’re all ready, spoiling for a fight. It’s sad really, how easy it is to play just enough havoc with Lydia’s supernatural sense to lure her from the auditorium. So, so easy. Alpha Hale should be ashamed.

She stands in the middle of the classroom, head cocked to one side, staring at the spiral on the blackboard when Jennifer realizes just what she is. The girl doesn’t know, of course. So Jennifer tells her.

Lydia is a Banshee.

And then she wraps the wire around her throat.

\- - -

They’re not going to get there in time. They’re not. They can all hear Lydia’s cut off scream the second it sounds. It coincides perfectly with the piano teacher’s throat fountaining blood at the crescendo of the creepy music.

Derek and Peter aren’t there. They’re looking for any signs of Deucalion’s plans. The rest of the pack is there though. As soon as the screaming starts and the panicked people start streaming toward the door there’s only one thing on any of the wolves minds. Get to the people dying on stage. Get to Lydia.

They split up.

Stiles and Scott fight their way toward the door they know will lead into the school. To Lydia. Isaac and Jackson head Danny, who looks dazed and disoriented. Boyd has Erica and Cora and they’re trying to get to the teachers on stage.

It takes Stiles a second to realize that Aiden is running with them when they reach the door. She doesn’t like that he’s so focused in on Lydia. Knows that it can only end in tears. Their packs are enemies, and she wants nothing but joy for Lydia. Right now though, she can’t be bothered to do more than throw him a token growl and a set of flashing eyes as they sprint down the corridor.

They hear the door slam shut as they round the corner. Stiles slides into it, Scott slides into Stiles’ back. They both peer through the little window just in time to see the Sheriff level his service pistol at someone across the room.

Lydia is hunched up on the floor, choking and crying and gasping.

Stiles slams a hand on the door, screaming her father’s name. Scott’s right there with her, yelling ‘Dad!’ hoarsely as he pants from all the running. Jeorek goes down in a flurry of movement and he’s been shot with his own weapon. The sound of the discharge and the sight of him crumpling to ground causes Stiles to lose it.

She wolfs out and goes at the door with every ounce of supernatural strength she can muster. Scott has to dodge out of the way just before he takes a handful of claws to the face. He falls to the floor and stares at her with wide eyes as she does something he has only ever seen her do once before.

She completely loses it.

And this time, she’s got the strength of the wolf behind it.

\- - -

It’s Cora that thinks to call him. By the time he gets to the school the building has been evacuated and there are Sheriff’s Deputies crawling all over the place accompanied by flashing lights. There are two ambulances and the coroner’s van in the parking lot. In one is Lydia. She’s lying curled up on her side under Jackson’s coat. She’s shaking and clutching Allison’s hand so hard the other girl’s fingertips are colorless. Jackson is standing guard at the door of the ambulance. He’s alert and watchful. Peter shares a nod with him as he briefly checks on the human girl that had become vital and loved within the pack.

The coroner’s van already holds one body and Boyd and Erica are standing nearby. Boyd nods to him and Peter doesn’t even bother. Boyd will look into this. Double check and confirm everything. The big, solemn eyed boy gestures to the other ambulance with worry creasing between his brows.

Jeorek Stilinski is sitting in the door of the second ambulance. He’s disheveled and looks the grumpiest Peter had ever seen him. His thigh is wrapped tightly in gauze and Peter can smell that he’s still bleeding sluggishly.

“What happened?”

Jeorek looked up at the sound of the Alpha’s voice and sighed heavily. “Someone tried to kill Lydia. When I tried to stop her, she shot me.”

“She?”

“Yes. Younger, dark hair. Pretty in that untouchable kind of way. Fast. Strong. She moved like one of you guys, only more sinister. I think she was the Darach.”

“She got your gun from you?”

“Yeah. Peter” Jeorek made sure he had Peter’s full attention. “Stiles saw me go down.”

Every fibre of Peter’s being went on alert at those words. “Where is she?”

Jeorek looked worried as he cast his eyes back to the school. “The locker room according to Scott.”

Peter nodded and turned to head into the school.

“Peter.” Peter paused, glanced back at the man that would one day be his father-in-law and watched him clench his jaw. Jeorek was angry. Angry and worried. “It took both of the twins to contain her.”

Peter headed into the building without a word. For the longest time all that Stiles had had was her father. It had been the two Stilinskis against the world. The sight of her father being shot, perhaps fatally would not have gone over well with his only daughter.

He followed the sounds of snarling to the locker room. Scott was sitting on a bench just inside the door holding an ice pack to a rapidly rising goose egg. Isaac was seated next to him, casting worried eyes at the shower room. Cora and Aiden were standing in the doorway, watching what was going on in the next room alertly. Cora looked winded and had several rapidly healing gashes on her arm. Aiden’s shirt was shredded and dotted with what smelled like his own blood. He was growling, eyes glowing red and fangs showing.

Peter paused long enough to take in the situation. Cora shifted next to him as they watched and said in a quiet voice pitched low enough so as not to carry: “She’s completely incoherent.”

Peter nodded once. He knew the feeling.

Stiles was crouched in the far corner of the showers, her clothing rent, hair on end. Danny and Ethan were crouched nearby, both nursing wounds. Danny was trying to not look threatening, and he had taken less damage than the other teen. Danny was pack, Ethan was not.

Peter stepped into the room, catching the attention of both boys. At his gesture they backed out of the room. Stiles bolted for the door now that she was no longer bracketed in. Peter’s eyes went red, his fangs dropped. He caught the raging shewolf around the middle. He feet flew into the air as he hauled her around in a circle deeper into the room. She roared at swiped at him.

Peter paused, then he spun her around to face him and then he howled in her face.

He howled at her in only the way an Alpha can. Long and loud and commanding.

All the fight seemed to drain out of Stiles all at once. Her legs gave out under her as she started to whimper. Peter allowed the momentum to carry both of them to the ground. He pulled her close, cradling her in his arms as the tears started. He held her in his arms as Stiles Stilinski began to sob. Open and broken as she finally allowed feeling aside from rage to fill her.

So they sat there. Watched over by pack and not pack. Peter let her mourn. Let her mourn her father’s own mortality and her realizing it. Let her sob out the impossible rage that had filled her. Let her mumble apologies and love into his neck. He held her, and he pressed kisses into her hair, and stroked her arms and murmured reassuringly to her.

This was a build up of everything that had happened since the night she had been bitten by the man who held her. All the chaos and change and violence brought out in one raging storm. It all left her as she cried.

Scott was the first one to enter the room. He crawled over and embraced his sister so that she was bracketed by both of them. Cora, Danny and Isaac circled around them, trying to comfort without smothering.

Ethan and Aiden looked at each other from where they stood in the doorway. They looked at the pack huddled on the tile and both of them knew that tomorrow Stiles would be coddled and cuddled and loved to within an inch of her life by all her pack, not just the ones present.

That was how pack was supposed to work.

Silently the two Alphas turned to stand watch. Nothing would get past them. Not tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so sorry about the delay in the update. I spent all of last week sick and then on Friday I got a new tattoo. The pain completely flattened me. I'm an HSP, and while I knew it was gonna hurt (it's not my first) the tattoo turned out to be about twice as big as I had prepared myself for. I managed to sit for the whole thing without tapping out, but as a result my HSP trait decided to stage a protest at the extreme over-stimulation. I've slept almost the entirety of the last two days.
> 
> Anyway, have some plotty plot. Some Lydia, some Sheriff and some Steter.
> 
> Up Next: Steter fluffies 'cause we all need those before we head into the hospital.


	76. Seventy-Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steter feels, pack feels, the Sheriff is in the hospital.

**_Seventy-Six:_ **

_“Everyone breaks a little sometimes. That doesn’t make you weak. It makes you wounded. And I will always be there to help you heal.”_

_~ J. Kenner, Release Me ~_

Stiles doesn’t know how she got from the school to the house. She doesn’t remember much between her father getting shot and crying in Peter’s arms. She has always had a habit of hiding pieces of herself away from the world. Ignoring them until they go away. Being a member of law enforcement has always been hazardous. When she was little she had had no concept of the idea that daddy just might not come home one day.

That idea was forced into her several weeks after her mother’s death, when her father went back to work. Suddenly it was very real how her papa carried a _gun_ on his hip. That he did so for a reason.

After Claudia Stilinski’s death the only thing that had held the two people she left behind together had been that they were not alone. Stiles took to sleeping in Jeorek’s bed for a long time, even when he wasn’t there. She learned to do laundry and clean. The biggest thing she did now was keep watch over her father’s eating habits. It was more of a paranoid compulsion than anything else. Just like Jeorek needed an _‘I’m safe_ ’ text from his daughter every four hours like clockwork. Even now, when he knew that she could take care of herself.

For years all they had had was each other.

Stiles wakes up slowly, her whole body feels weighed down. Heavy like the sleep she had gotten had increased the effect gravity had on her. Her head was tucked under someone’s arm (Peter’s, her nose supplied) and her nose was pressed into their ribs. Her hand was clutching at fabric, worn soft from many washings. There was a face pressed into the back of her neck, the slight wheeze in every puff of air identified the arms wrapped around her middle as Scott’s.

She lets her eyes open and just lays there in the quiet, watching Peter’s chest rise and fall under her hand with each breath. Her field of vision is obscured mostly by the green shirt and Peter’s side and chest, but she had just see her own hand clutching said shirt, with a familiar masculine hand cradling it.

She shifts, careful not to wake anyone so that her chin is propped on Peter’s bicep and her hand is turned to entwine with his. She glances up and her amber eyes meet his blue ones. He’s tired, she can see that in the lines of his face. She knows he stayed up all night watching over her again. It’s a habit he’s formed since the night Jackson turned. Every time any of the pack is in distress, Peter sits vigil.

They watch each other for a few minutes. Stiles takes in those eyes she loves so much, the sharp cheekbones and the beard stubble that’s grown in enough she just knows he hasn’t shaved in at least a week. He squeezes her hand and she can see the question in his eyes. She offers him a smile. He returns it and his hand comes up to trace her jaw.

Someone in the pile of bodies Stiles is pinned under snorts and grumbles incoherently. Stiles takes the time to look around before she flashes the Alpha a grin. He rolls his eyes and prods the mumbler. Jackson rolls over into Isaac’s side. He then proves he’s at least part octopus by wrapping all of his limbs around the taller boy. Isaac snuffles in return and presses his face harder into Stiles’ leg.

On Peter’s other side, Cora has curled up into a ball by his knee, and Erica and Boyd occupy the space above her. Danny has just gone and draped himself across the end of the bed. Parts of him are set atop Isaac, Jackson, Cora, Peter and Stiles. His mouth is open in that exhausted, dead to the world way.

Behind her, Scott is drooling into the mattress, just barely missing Stiles’ neck. Pressed against Scott’s back is Lydia. Derek is missing. Stiles turns a questioning look to Peter and he sighs “At the hospital with your father.”

Right. The hospital. Because her dad got shot last night. Stiles flinches and tucks her head down so that her face can’t be seen as the image of her father collapsing with a cry of pain replays in her vivid imagination.

Another nightmare to add to the list.

Peter wraps her up in his arms, tighter than before. He pulls her around so that she’s laying on top of him, face to face, regardless of the pups scattered all over the bed around them. Scott rolls into the free spot and starts snoring softly. Danny’s head slips off Scott’s feet and his head tilts backward at an uncomfortable angle.

Stiles stares down at her Alpha… no, her _mate_. His eyes are concerned, but behind them is a banked rage, like hot coals ready to spark. Stiles knows that his worry and love for her are the only thing keeping him from tearing Beacon Hills to shreds to find the Darach.

The rage inside Peter matches the rage inside herself.

The Alpha Pack will have to wait their turn, Stiles decides as she leans down abruptly to kiss him. As far as the Alpha Pair of the Hale Pack are concerned, the Darach is done killing. The only life left to take is the Darach’s.

\- - -

The first thing any of them do (after breakfast of course) is head for the hospital. They find Derek dozing (seemingly) in a chair next to Deputy Parrish, who looks like he’s had one too many cups of coffee. They can hear the Sheriff complaining that he’s just fine, thanks, from the hall.

Stiles and Scott duck into the room as Peter sets up to guard the door. The others have all gone to their varied and sundry homes. Lydia, Peter knows, should have been in the hospital last night, but she had refused in typical fashion. She’d snuck out her window to be at the Stilinski house last night.

Danny and Jackson had escorted her home early, helped her sneak in her window.

Erica had gone to the clinic with Boyd, adhering to Peter’s strict instructions that none of them go anywhere alone. The goal is to lure the Darach out, or to find out who she was. Peter had his suspicions.

Isaac and Cora were downstairs getting something to eat, as there was nothing else for them to do. Peter settles into a chair on the other side of Parrish, who doesn’t look like he cares for the idea of being boxed in by the Hales. He’s seen enough weird stuff since he started this job, and he’s heard a lot of things around the station house.

It kind of freaks him out how much the other deputies aren’t saying.

Inside the room, Melissa is standing next to the bed with her eyebrows making friends with her pretty dark hair. She’s got her arms crossed and a mostly unamused expression on her face. Dr. Hawthorne is standing at the end of the bed trying to convince the man in the sling that he should stay one more night.

Stiles goes right in and climbs up onto the bed next to Jeorek. Scott uncrosses Melissa’s arms and wraps one of them around him so that he can slump into her side.

“Hey Jitterbug” Jeorek pauses to hug his daughter and looks over her shoulder at Scott. “You okay?”

Scott shrugged and grinned sheepishly. The goose egg had gone done, but he had some nice bruising to show for it. “Yeah, I’m good. How about you?”

“I’m fine. Terrific even. Let’s go home!”

Melissa snorted “Jeo, you got shot.”

“Yes I did.”

“Papa.”

“What?” Jeorek demanded, looking at all three of them then over at the doctor. “You don’t think I won’t get enough rest at home? I promise I will, I’ve got these three plus two more just like ‘em out in the hall.”

Dr. Hawthorne grinned and shook his head “Okay, we’ll discharge you. But you have to follow doctor’s orders to the letter Sheriff, I mean it.”

“We’ll make sure he does” Stiles said.

“Okay then” Hawthorne said, then left the room. Peter and Derek came inside as the doctor was leaving. Scott hoisted himself up on the Sheriff’s other side.

The door clicked shut.

“It was the english teacher” Jeorek said seriously, meeting Peter’s gaze where he stood at the end of the bed.

A furious growl erupted from Stiles and Derek flinched. “I’m sorry. I knew there was something weird when she knew about us.”

“It’s not your fault, Derek” Jeorek said.

“I’m the reason we’re on her radar” Derek said stubbornly.

“No. I think we were already on her radar. We’ve been trying to stop her from the start. Something like this was inevitable” Peter said.

“So we know who it is, just not what the endgame is” Stiles offered.

“I think it has to do with the Alpha Pack” Scott said. When everyone looked at him he got a disgruntled look on his face. “What? She showed up the same time they did.”

“True. Perhaps it’s time I have another conversation with Deucalion” Peter stated thoughtfully.

“Not alone, you’re not” Stiles replied.

“No. Not alone,” Peter reassured her. She nodded.

“Okay, that’s great. Can we finish this conversation when we get home?” Jeorek asked.

“We need more information anyway” Derek said.

“We need to be somewhere where we know the walls don’t have ears” Jeorek stated, eyeballing the door. It was a hospital, not the Hale House.

“We should wait until we know what Boyd has to say later” Stiles said. “We need all the information we can get before we make any moves.”

The group fell silent for a few minutes, each person agreeing silently with that assessment. Then, quietly, the Sheriff asked:

“How’s Lydia?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, we're winding toward the climax of the third act here. Everything's coming to a head and here's where things are gonna veer off course from 3A. 
> 
> The fourth and final act of our story will be completely AU storyline and replace 3B. It all comes around to the choice that Stiles made at the beginning.
> 
> Up Next: The Hale Pack makes a plan. The Alpha Pack attacks and the Darach plays a few of the cards in her hand.


	77. Seventy-Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Pack figures some stuff out. Peter decides to take the fight to the Darach.

**_Seventy-Seven:_ **

_"What makes night within us may leave stars."_

_~ Victor Hugo ~_

The Sheriff comes home.

Then it's a scramble for any scrap of information any of them can find. Between Deaton and Boyd and Erica, several hundred books are skimmed or read through for any sort of useful information. They find out that there's a lunar eclipse coming up. The kind that takes away a werewolf's power.

It's the perfect time to strike, according to Deaton.

Danny and Lydia dive into Danny's research on telluric currents looking for patterns to try to predict the Darach's next move. It isn't easy, but there are still at least three more victims out there, so they can't give up.

Peter is having none of it. He can't just up and kill the local English Lit teacher though, but he's determined to foil whatever plans she's got.

Stiles and Jeorek dive into all the files pertaining to the killings. Jeorek passed his detective brain onto his daughter and they spend hours breaking it down and trying to put patterns together to narrow down who the Guardians might be. It takes more time than Stiles likes to figure out that ‘ _Guardian_ ’ means ‘ _Parent_ ’.

She gets the sneaking suspicion that she’s not going to like where this is going. At the end of the research she _knows_ she doesn’t like it. She’s frowning down at a sheet of paper in her hand, not even sure what’s on it anymore as she stares into the middle distance.

“Stiles?”

She looks up into Scott’s concerned brown eyes. Apparently she had been standing there doing nothing long enough to concern him. He tilted his head in that puppyish way of his and she held the sheet of paper out to him. He took it from her, looking down at it.

“The bottom” Stiles muttered, cutting her eyes over to stare at the Sheriff.

Scott’s eyes skimmed the sheet, then widened as he saw what she had. At the bottom of the form was a signature line labeled Parent/Guardian. His eyes went to Jeorek too, who looked up and scowled at his children.

“What?” he demanded.

“Peter” Stiles said. Her voice didn’t waver. It stayed calm even though on the inside she was starting to freak out just a little.

Peter appeared at her elbow then. His hand settles on her waist and he takes the sheet from Scott when the boy offers it. He scans it, doesn’t need any help finding what has the two Stilinski teens frozen. He frowns, looks up at Jeorek and says: “Call Melissa, get her home. Now.”

“What’s going on?” Jeorek demands, but he reaches for his phone anyway.

“Parent or Guardian” Peter says. Jeorek gets it. He frowns and hits the button that will connect him to his wife.

“You think she’d be that stupid?” Derek asks from the kitchen where he’s making peanut butter sandwiches for everyone.

“I think she’d be that smart” Peter says. He turned, pulled Stiles into him. Something inside him stirred angrily at the unraveling plan of Jennifer Blake. Something dark and unforgiving that has been dormant since Kate Argent died. It uncoils inside him and his eyes flicker red. He looked down at his mate, who has so recently faced the possible loss of her father. The thing inside rumbles in anger and Peter knows that no matter what, Jennifer Blake will not survive her next encounter with him.

Everyone waits quietly while Jeorek tries to get Melissa on the phone. She doesn’t answer so he tries again. One look from Peter has Derek and Isaac heading for the door. Scott clutches Stiles’ hand tighter and tighter as the seconds pass.

“Lydia” Peter says, a warning in his voice. “Call Argent, give him a heads up.”

Peter is ruthless enough to have no problem using Chris Argent to his own ends. He doesn’t care how many hunters die in the end so long as his pack is left intact. Alpha Pack be damned, the Darach won’t survive to reach the eclipse. Not if he has anything to say about it.

“Cora, go to the clinic. I want Boyd and Erika back here. Tell Boyd to bring anything and everything he might think is useful.” Peter doesn’t spare his niece a look as she slips out the door. “Danny, get Jackson and track down that twin that’s sniffing after you. I want a meet with Deucalion.”

Danny nods. It makes sense. Deucalion will have been interested in the Darach. He had plans of his own and would have made a point of knowing everything he could about something that may pose a threat to his own agenda. That intelligence was what made Deucalion dangerous. His ruthlessness was what made him deadly. Combined and the Alpha of Alphas was lethal.

Stiles and Peter look at each other for a few moments before Stiles nods, surges up and presses a hard kiss to his lips. When it’s over she turns to her brother and her father and says “Let’s go get Mom.”

Peter stands in the dining room alone for a few minutes as he slowly reels in the fury that is now seething underneath his skin. He no longer has any care to know the Darach’s agenda. By targeting members of his pack, she has forfeited the right to any sort of trial. Peter is a good Alpha, he protected his pack, whether physically or by giving them the knowledge they need to protect themselves. Peter is also selfish. He will sacrifice anyone and anything to see Stiles whole and healthy and happy.

Stiles was the only thing that mattered.

For the broken piece of himself. That shard that will never heal, Stiles is gravity. She is all that holds the monster that sleeps dormant inside the man at bay. The distress she has felt in the last couple of days due to Jeorek being wounded is enough for Peter to sentence the cause of that distress to death.

His pathological need to see Stiles safe is not healthy, but it is all he has.

Without Stiles, Peter is the worst kind of Monster. With her, he is tempered steel; able to cut, but also able to protect.

\- - -

There was a storm raging the likes of which Beacon Hills hasn’t seen in over fifty years. The power is out to more than half the town. One of Beacon Hills’ two hospitals closed its doors to trauma, leaving only Beacon Hills Memorial, which was having power problems.

A big cypress tree takes a bolt of lightning and crashes down on the parking lot, crushing a half dozen cars and damaging several more. The Sheriff’s SUV pulls into the lot to the sight of flashing lights as the Fire Department and several deputies work on containing the damage and preventing the rest of the tree from hitting any power lines.

“Guys” there’s a warning in Jeorek’s voice.

“You can’t go alone” Stiles says instantly. She knew what could happen. Knew that her father had a big fat target on his back.

“I just need to check in,” Jeorek says, voice soothing. “I’m surrounded by people, go get your mother and we’ll meet back here.”

“You’ll be careful?” Scott asks.

“Yes.”

They don’t like it, but Jeorek is the Sheriff for a reason. He was voted into office twice by a town that loved and believed in him. He would probably stay Sheriff for as long as he was able. Stiles and Scott head for the door of the hospital. Jeorek crossed the lot to get the word from Parrish and Markham.

He knows the moment his deputies look at him with relief, sling and all, that it is going to be a long night. He shoved his misgivings down, and he went to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have out major canon-divergence in 3A. We're heading into the battle. It's going to span several chapters, but I will do my best to post them in chunks so that the cliff-hangers aren't too bad.
> 
> As Act III winds to it's conclusion, we shall head into Act IV, which is all original storyline which revisits the choice Stiles made in chapter one.
> 
> I've the ending in my sights now, kids. Hold onto your hats.


	78. Seventy-Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melissa is Oficially MIA. Peter starts to develop a plan.

**_Seventy-Eight:_ **

_“... and when I lift my head to scream out my fury, a million stars turn black and die. No one can see them, but they are my tears.”_

_~ N.K. Jemisin, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms ~_

It took less than twenty minutes for Stiles and Scott to conclude that Melissa was nowhere to be found inside the hospital. They stared at each other in horror for a moment before the panic set in. Scott started to wheeze at the same time that Stiles swayed on the spot. She straightened up and steeled herself. Now was not the time for a panic attack. Now was a time to be a freakin’ werewolf and howl the sudden rage she could feel to the sky.

She didn’t care who answered so long as the Darach got her message.

She grabbed Scott’s hand and together they made their way toward the door of the hospital. Scott didn’t protest the werewolf strength she was using, just gripped her hand back as hard as he could. His mother was missing, taken by a magical psycho who intended to sacrifice her.

That was not okay.

They got into the elevator and Stiles couldn’t help it. She growled, flashing her bright beta gold eyes at Deucalion and Kali who were occupying the other side of the car.

“Why Miss Stilinski” Deucalion said mildly, “Whatever has you so angry.”

Scott was glaring at them from over Stiles’ shoulder and snorted “Whatever nefarious plans you’ve got, stuff it. We’ve got bigger fish to fry.”

Deucalion’s eyebrows rose from behind the sunglasses he was wearing. Next to him, Kali shifted onto the balls of her feet, ready to attack. “What, might I ask, has you out for blood?”

Stiles eyeballed him, frowning as she shifted her weight. Should she tell him? He might know something. Deucalion’s eyebrows went up a little higher while she thought about it, then she said: “What do you know about the Darach?”

Surprise crossed his features briefly, then the neutral expression he usually wore came back. Kali shifted uncomfortably beside him. “What makes you think I know anything?”

Stiles snorted “She showed up at the same time you did. You’re not an idiot, Deuc, you would have learned everything you could about something that might screw with your plans for Peter.”

Deucalion’s mouth twitched at the nickname “True. You really are a very intelligent young woman, aren’t you?”

Stiles waved it off “What do you know?”

“I know the Darach is a former Emissary” Deucalion said. If she could have seen his eyes, Stiles would have seen the calculations going through them as he thought. It would have made her rethink the idea of involving the Alpha of Alphas. “She wants revenge for what happened to her?”

“And what happened to her?” Scott asked suspiciously. He didn’t like where this was going.

“She was attacked by her Alpha” Deucalion said, then his tone went reproachful. “The Alpha couldn’t finish her off though, and now she is mangled. Wrathful and vengeful.”

Stiles’ eyes narrowed as the pieces clicked together “This is because of you. She’s after your pack, we’re just in the way.”

Deucalion said nothing. The elevator chimed as the doors slid open. Scott and Stiles got off and, as the doors began to slide shut, Deucalion called “Do not underestimate Ms Baccari, Stiles. She _will_ kill you to get what she wants.”

Stiles snorted as she and Scott headed for the exit. She had a vague inkling about what Jennifer Blake (Baccari?) wanted from her pack. She wanted their loyalty. She wanted attack dogs. She wanted them to do her dirty work for her so that she could kill the Alpha pack.

If that was what she wanted, she was going about it the wrong way.

\- - -

Peter bent over the map of Beacon Hills that was spread out over the Stilinski kitchen table. There’s stacks of police files in and around one chair. A tower of books from the clinic in piles around Boyd, who is the only one who sat down at all. He was flipping through a heavy tome that looked about as interesting as a bag of rocks (fun, but not in any good ways). There are little x’s all over the map. Argent is diligent and intelligent and resourceful.

Erica reached out over the map and circled a spot in the preserve with a green marker “That’s where Deaton said the Nemeton is.”

“Are you sure she’s drawing power from that thing?” Chris Argent demanded. He’d arrived with Allison and Matt in tow fifteen minutes after Lydia had called. Victoria was putting together a fighting force and waiting for the go.

“Yes” Boyd said, he looked up, a solemn expression on his face. “All druid’s are connected to the earth. Nemeton’s are a great source of power.”

“Wasn’t it cut down?”

“Yes, but cut down or not, it still has power” Boyd said.

“So what’s her plan?” Chris demanded. He looked like he couldn’t decided if the best plan wasn’t just to kill them all and sort it out afterward.

“She’s after Deucalion.”

Everyone turned. Stiles and Scott stood in the doorway, soaking wet from the rain. Scott was frowning, shivering heavily and Stiles looked like the first person that so much as looked at her funny would get their eyes scratched out.

“We saw Deucalion at the hospital” Stiles said as Scott headed for the stairs. She looked at Peter and continued, “She was one of his pack’s emissaries. When he went after whichever one the Alpha couldn’t finish the job. So now she wants revenge for being mauled and left for dead against the Alpha Pack.”

“Do you know which one?” Peter asked. Stiles walked over to him and peered at the map on the table.

She shook her head “No, but he called her ‘Baccari’.”

Matt knocked over a stack of research in his haste as he reached for his laptop. He typed rapidly for a few minutes before he said “Looks like there was a Julia Bacarri that came into County ten years ago. She was really bad off, claw marks all over. Says she died, though.”

“Apparently not” said Peter. “When did Jennifer Blake make her appearance?”

Matt typed some more, suddenly grateful for his creepy tendencies “Eight years ago. Before that there’s nothing. Whoever created the identity was good, but you get what you pay for. There’s no real background on Jennifer Blake at all.”

Peter nodded thoughtfully. He stood there gazing at the map for a while before he spoke. “Boyd, when is the next lunar eclipse?”

Boyd flipped open another book “Late next week.”

“What happens on the eclipse?” Erica wondered.

“We lose our powers” Peter said. He was frowning now as the puzzle took shape. “For the duration of the eclipse. That must be when she intends to strike. When they’re vulnerable.”

“She still needs the Guardians though, right?” Chris asked.

“Mom’s missing” Stiles put in. “She’s already started.”

“What does she want with us, though?” Cora asked.

“Attack dogs” Stiles said, repeating the thought she had had in the elevator. “To keep the Alphas distracted.”

“Attack dog” Peter said grimly. “Derek.”

Stiles nodded, that made sense. Her helping Derek would have been strategic. Make the wounded werewolf feel indebted to you so that you could have your very own werewolf protection. “Where is Derek?”

“Where’s Isaac?” Erica asks.

“They went to try and track the Darach” Peter said, he pulled out his phone. They all waited while it rang and rang. Peter’s frown deepened as the call remained unanswered. He dialed a second number and got the same result.

Stiles picked up the house phone and dialed a number she’d known by heart for as long as she could remember. When the other line was picked up she set to getting one of her father’s deputies to gps track both Isaac and Derek’s phones. Luckily for her, it was Grant that answered. She’d known him long enough for him to have a soft spot for her. He also knew that whatever was going on in Beacon Hills, he didn’t want to know about, so he just went ahead and did what she asked.

“Cora, Erica, go get them” Peter ordered as soon as Stiles had a location. The two shewolves nodded and were out the door.

“We’ve got to deal with the Darach now, before she reaches full power” Chris said. He traced the line of a telluric line with one finger. There were three circles along it, empty ones that indicated places of convergence where the bodies of the three guardians would most likely be found.

“I’m going to change” Stiles said. “Then I’m going to find my mother.”

Peter nodded to her and he turned to Chris “Can you send men to all of those places?”

Chris nodded and pulled out his phone to call Victoria. Allison stood up “I’ll take the one of Fifth.”

“Not alone” Chris said.

“I’ll go too” Matt said, and followed Allison out of the room.

Boyd was left alone with his Alpha and the Argent hunter. He hunched his shoulders and tried to ignore the underlying tension that always hovered in a room whenever they were within fifteen feet of each other.

Peter stood there, frowning as he looked at the map. Between the Alpha Pack and the Darach he would rather deal with the Alpha Pack. They were straight forward and were just after the deaths of his pack. The Darach wanted to use them.

He was not okay with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so in the series Talia takes the memory of where the Nemeton is from Derek and Peter. There is nothing that says that Deaton doesn't know where it is. As I Druid I would think he would absolutely know where it is. Also, I can't see any reason why Boyd, as an Emissary-in-training wouldn't be told where it was either.
> 
> Up Next: The Chase Is On.


	79. Seventy-Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackson and Danny have a bro moment. Derek is missing, and Peter is pissed off.

**_Seventy-Nine:_ **

_“Let your dissent fuel you, your anger inspire you, your rage convey you, and your fury strike a chilling fear onto the spines of your enemies.”_

_~ Evan Meekins, The Black Banner ~_

Danny’s best friend is a giant raging douche, so he liked to think he can be pretty tolerant when it came down to it. He’s a werewolf, also he’s gay, so that also helped with the whole being tolerant thing. The fact that the guy he liked was part of another pack wasn’t a huge deal to Danny.

The fact that said pack was trying to _kill them all_ was what had him miffed.

Jackson shrugged and called it par for the course every time Danny brought it up. He did have notoriously bad judgment when it came to boyfriends. Example A being his last boyfriend who had cheated on him by humping some dude in the middle of Jungle’s dance floor.

Danny had sent all summer fun and fancy free with Lydia, and now it looked like Lydia was in the same boat as he was.

“Stop thinking so hard” Jackson said, boosting himself up onto the picnic table they had stationed themselves next to. “It’s not gonna change anything.”

“Why does this always happen to me?” Danny lamented, perching on the bench by Jackson’s legs.

Jackson’s fingers laced through Danny’s hair, and Danny was reminded just _why_ he was best friends with him in the first place. “Because you are a genuinely nice, caring, beautiful guy and everyone can see that. Also you’re hot.”

Danny snorted. Before he could reply a scent wafted toward them on the wet breeze and both wolves turned glowing eyes to the treeline at the edge of the little park. Two pairs of glowing, Alpha red eyes appeared in the darkness and two identical Alphas emerged from the gloom. They approached with a certain amount of caution.

“Hey” Ethan said, offering Danny a small smile.

Danny dimpled at him, he couldn’t help it “Hey.”

Jackson rolled his eyes. “Okay, look, Peter wants a meet with Deucalion.”

“What for?” Aiden demanded.

“This Darach thing is getting out of hand and it’s got to be dealt with before we can deal with each other” Jackson stated bluntly.

Ethan flinched and Aiden winced. “Deal with each other?”

“Like it or not, we’re on different sides” Jackson said. His hand squeezed Danny’s shoulder in sympathy because he knew that the attraction was mutual and that they would probably be good together.

Aiden nodded, conceding the point. “How’s Lydia?” he asked.

“She’s a survivor” Danny said, finally looking away from Ethan.

“Can you get the meet?” Jackson asked.

“Why should -”

Jackson’s cell phone rang, _‘Howlin’ For You’_ by the Black Keys blasting out into the air. Jackson frowned and pulled it out, putting it on speaker “What is it?”

_“Get back here. Now.”_ said Peter through the device.

“What happened?” Danny asked.

_“The Darach has Melissa and we’ve lost contact with Derek and Isaac.”_

Jackson jerked at the sound of Isaac’s name. He turned panicked eyes on his best friend. Danny nodded and stood, helping Jackson to his feet. “What about Deucalion?”

_“Stiles ran into him at the hospital. He’s who the bitch is after. We’re dealing with this my way.”_

Peter’s way meant a lot of violence and blood followed by a puppy pile and a lot of snack food. Danny met Etha’s gaze. He looked hesitant like he wanted to say something, but was refraining. “We’re on our way” Danny said, and ended the call.

“Can we help?” Ethan asked.

Jackson snarled, angry and anxious. Danny shook his head “You’re not pack.”

Ethan nodded and he and Aiden watched the two boys run toward Jackson’s porsche. The twins looked at each other in silence for a minute. They had known each other forever. They knew each other’s ticks. They could converse clearly without saying a word from fifty paces.

Aiden nodded at the question in Ethan’s eyes, then the two wolves melted into the shadows as if they had never been there.

\- - -

Chris hung up with his daughter at the same time that the front door burst open. Cora was screaming Scott’s name, and by the time the trio in the kitchen made it through the doorway, Cora and Erica were lowering Isaac onto the couch. He was covered in healing gashes and enough blood to make a blood bank worker cringe. His head lolled to one side and he breathed in wetly as he looked around wildly. Erica stayed pinned under the tall boy as Scott and Stiles thundered down the stairs. Stiles was carrying the medical kit and set it down on the floor next to Scott when he knelt in front of Isaac.

“Isaac?” Scott asked softly. Isaac’s head rolled so that he could see Scott peering at him in concern.

“I’ss not s’ ba’,” he slurred out.

“It was worse when we found him” Cora said, she was leaning over the back of the couch, peering at Isaac in concern just like everyone else was.

Peter crouched down next to Scott in front of Isaac as Scott started bandaging things. “What happened, Isaac?” he asked softly, setting one hand on Isaac’s knee.

Isaac visibly relaxed at his Alpha’s touch and heaved a pained sigh “Sh’ came ou’ of now’ere. Fas’. Stron’.”

“The Darach?” Peter asked.

Isaac nodded, “Sh’ took ‘im.”

Scott froze. Stiles hissed. Peter frowned “She took Derek?”

Isaac nodded again. Peter stood, he looked at Chris, who shook his head. His men had found nothing at any of the convergence points. Peter frowned. There was no point in performing a sweep of the town, the Darach was too good at masking herself.

The phone rang. Stiles grabbed for the handset and breathlessly answered it as she left the room so that no one was distracted by the call. Peter turned back to Isaac “Do you remember which way they went.”

Isaac nodded and said through grit teeth: “North.”

We’ll start there. Maybe we’ll get -”

“PETER!”

There was a clatter in the other room and the collected wolves and humans spun around to face the kitchen. Stiles stood in the doorway, frozen. The handset lay on the floor where it had been dropped. Peter was across the room faster than Chris could see, wrapping his arms around Stiles. She was shaking.

“What is it?” Peter demanded, running a hand soothingly up and down her arm.

“That was Markham” Stiles muttered. “Dad’s missing.”

Scott made a distressed noise in the back of his throat. A deep, dark rumbling growl erupted from Peter’s throat. Stiles turned into him with a pained whimper. “What do we do?”

“We’ll find them” Peter said into her hair.

“I have an idea” Boyd said suddenly. He shifted uncomfortably when seven pairs of eyes focused in on him. “This is the last bit of the ritual right? What if she needs to be where the most power is?”

“The Nemeton” Stiles breathed.

Boyd nodded “What if that’s where they are?”

“Worth a shot” Chris decided.

Peter nodded “Think you can get us there?”

“Absolutely” Boyd said instantly.

Peter nodded, and then addressed the rest of the room. “Scott, you stay here with Isaac, make sure he heals properly. Chris, whoever you want to call in, do it now.Everyone else get ready, we leave as soon as Jackson and Danny get back.”

Murmurs of assent went around the room. Cora set her hand on Scott’s shoulder and squeezed “Don’t worry. We’ll get them back.”

\- - -

Derek came awake with a start and a groan. His back was screaming at him. His arms were stretched above his head. He blinked and through the red haze of blood in his eyes he could see that his hands were shackled above him at an uncomfortable angle. He shook his head, trying to clear out the muzziness, and sneezed.

Wolfsbane.

“Don’t try to get out” said a voice to Derek’s left.

He tilted his head and his eyes flared blue as he peered into the shadows. Jennifer Blake emerged from the darkness, a smile on her pretty face. It was stilted, wrong somehow.

“What do you want?” Derek asked.

“Oh, honey, what else?” Jennifer asked. “I need you. I need a guard, a protector.”

Derek growled. It rumbled up from deep inside him, menacing and angry.

“Now, now, don’t be that way” Jennifer said. Her expression turned earnest “You don’t understand. I need you, Derek. I need you to help me kill the Alpha Pack.”

“Can’t do it yourself?” Derek asked, then he sneezed again. There was just enough wolfsbane in the air to keep him from breaking free of the shackles.

“Oh, I will be able to, after the sacrifice” Jennifer replied conversationally. She waved a hand around and Derek followed the gesture with his eyes. What he saw made him jerk in his chains and snarl, wolfing out. Melissa was tiled to a beam, looking none the worse for wear. She kept looking worriedly between him and someone tied up opposite her. Whoever it was was unconscious and bleeding from the head.

Derek scented the air and growled again, furious eyes turning back to Jennifer “I’m not helping you.”

She smiled “You will. You’ll see.”

Derek stayed silent as she left the cellar, then his eyes turned to the two people tied up on the other side of the cramped space. “Is he?”

“He’s breathing” Melissa said. The toe of one of her shoes tapped at the Sheriff’s boot lightly, trying to wake him in the only way she could. “They’ll come for us, Derek.”

Derek slumped in his chains as he gazed at the two people that treated him like one of their own. Jeorek had taken him in, treated him like a son, for no other reason than that he meant something to Stiles. Now he was unconscious in a cellar, about to be sacrificed by a dark Druid. Derek hoped that he wasn’t the method with which Jennifer planned to sacrifice them.

“They’ll find us” Melissa said again.

Derek could only hope it was in time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cackles*
> 
> Up Next: The Battle


	80. Eighty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something strange happens to Derek. The hunters and the wolves go a-hunting.

**_Eighty:_ **

_“The whole thing becomes like this evil enchantment from a fairy tale, but you’re made to believe the spell can never be broken.”_

_~ Jess C. Scott, Heart’s Blood ~_

There was a lull in the storm as hunters gathered at the edge of the preserve. There were nearly a dozen of them, all loading weapons and talking quietly to each other. Around the back of the Argent’s SUV Chris had a map laid out. Over one shoulder stood Matt, who was holding a flashlight so that the map could be seen.

“We’re coming in from the south,” he was using gestures to indicate the direction they would be sweeping. “We’ll sweep the Preserve as we go, our target is here. It’s a huge tree stump, big enough you can’t miss it.”

“What’s the objective?” someone asked.

“Our job is to contain the situation. There’s a pack of Alphas out there, as well as some kind of dark Druid” Chris said, he was frowning a little.

“What’s the Hale Pack doing?” another person asked. Hayes had been with Chris long enough to know that the Hale Pack only attacked when provoked.

“Their goal is to stop the last sacrifice and rescue the hostages.” Chris checked his .45 and then looked up to meet the grim face of each of his men. “Their goal is saving lives tonight, it’s our job to make sure the situation stays contained so that no more bodies hit the ground.”

Victoria spoke up then, “The Sheriff’s Department is setting up a perimeter around the Preserve along the highway so that nothing backtracks into town. I’ll be staying here to co-ordinate between us and the deputies. Allison will be going in with the Hale Pack so that we have information on their movements.”

“I don’t need to tell any of you what Alpha Hale will do to you if you accidentally on purpose hit one of his wolves” Chris said this mostly for the three or four hunters that had come in from out of town.

One of the hunters snorted. Wilkins was one of those survivalist guys before he found out about the supernatural. Victoria didn’t like him because she thought he was one step off from being a serial killer. She had had enough serial killers in her life recently to last her a lifetime.

Hayes smacked Wilkins on the back of the head “Don’t even think it, man. Hale’s not something you wanna mess with.”

Wilkins looked like he wanted to argue, but Chris didn’t give him the chance. He looked at his watch and saw that it was well after midnight and that the pack would have left already. “Alright, boys and girls, saddle up. Let’s get this done.”

\- - -

Derek coughed and wheezed in a breath as he fought against the chains holding him. There was more than just wolfsbane in the air now, and he could feel himself changing. He struggled weakly against the shackles, wondering idly if this was how it felt for humans.

“Derek?” Melissa asked carefully, watching him.

He looked up, snarling, his eyes glowing. Melissa jumped, stunned. Derek’s eyes flashed bright green for a moment, then they went back to the blue that had become so familiar. “Derek, honey?”

“I can’t-” Derek panted. He slumped, the fight leaving him.

“What’s she done to you?” Melissa asked softly. Derek shook his head, he didn’t know. It was obvious, that whatever it was, it was nothing good.

Jeorek groaned, his eyes fluttered open and darted around. They took in the cellar, Melissa and Derek and he groaned again. “Oh crap” he muttered.

“Are you okay?” Melissa asked.

Jeorek met her gaze and smiled “If I go out, at least I get to do it looking at a beautiful woman.”

Melissa snorted a laugh and rolled her eyes. A moment passed, and then both of them turned to look at Derek, whose eyes were flickering between wolf blue and sickly green. They watched him in trepidation for a few minutes until the green seemed to win. Derek stopped struggling, he stood up to his full height, and his eyes fixed themselves on stairs leading out of the cellar.

After a beat, the doors opened and a body was dumped into the cellar. Melissa gasped as she recognized Jane Mahealani. Jennifer Blake followed behind the unconscious woman. She looked over to Derek, and she smiled.

“I’m so glad to see you’ve had a change of heart.”

\- - -

Werewolves roamed the Beacon Hills Preserve, each with a purpose. For most of them, they headed toward a singular objective, in tandem, as one. Guided by a tall boy with more wisdom in his eyes than most people know in their lifetimes. A witchlight hovers over his head, a guide for the wolves shadowing him, glowing gold and causing flickering shadows in the deep gloom of late night.

Above, thunder rumbles and lightning flashes across the sky. Rain and ozone permeated the air. It was sprinkling, light enough that they could all hear the droplets hitting the leaves of the trees, but not enough for those droplets to reach the ground through the canopy.

Stiles ran parallel to Boyd, eyes alert and angry. She could sense where her packmates ran around her. They were spread out in a fan pattern. It would be harder to ambush them if they weren’t all in the same place.

It was a good thing too, Stiles knew. Because out in the darkness Erica howled in fury and the answering snarl definitely came from someone that was not pack. Peter answered Erica’s call, and Cora and Jackson darted across Stiles’ path to aid Erica against the Alpha known as Kali.

Up ahead, Boyd broke through the trees and halted. Stiles stopped at the treeline, to her left Danny took a similar stance as her. In the middle of the clearing stood the stump of what had probably been the biggest tree ever. Standing in front of the stump was Jennifer Blake. Unassuming in a skirt and a pair of kitten heels. She looked out of place, like something was pulling at her.

At her side stood Derek. He was wolfed out, chest heaving, eyes a sickly green.

“What’s wrong with his eyes?” Danny asked, alarmed.

Boyd was frowning at Derek, like he was trying to put a puzzle together. Stiles stepped up next to him and muttered “Whatever’s wrong with him, fix it before he kills one if us.”

Boyd nodded rapidly and watched as Stiles and Danny wolfed out and stepped out of the trees. Jennifer laughed. A sort of mad cackle that got lost in the wind. The rain was coming down harder as she raised one hand and pointed at them.

“Kill them all,” she ordered.

Derek roared, and charged.

\- - -

Erica grunted in pain as she was slammed bodily into the trunk of a tree. She slid down to the ground and after a few seconds she got to her hands and knees and shook herself. She looked up with glowing eyes just in time to see Jackson come flying at Kali from one side and Cora from the other.

She got to her feet and turned to scan the trees warily. If Kali was here, that meant that the twins and Deucalion were around here somewhere. A flash of movement and Erica threw herself to the ground. A glance upward showed an unassuming white cane shivering above her head, embedded in the tree by a three inch blade.

“Well, this is interesting.”

Erica turned, snarling as Deucalion came into sight. He wasn’t wearing the sunglasses he so frequently wore. His clouded eyes were ringed in Alpha red, and Erica got the distinct feeling that Deucalion could see her.

“Kali” Deucalion said reproachfully. “Stop playing around, we haven’t time for this.”

Kali snarled and raked her claws down Cora’s side. Cora howled in pain and Jackson was torn between helping Cora and going after Deucalion. Deucalion took that choice out of his hands though, when he stepped forward, back handed Erica across the space between them and into Jackson’s chest. They went down like dominos.

Deucalion pulled his cane from the tree, and turned to head toward where they could head Danny, Stiles and Derek (?). Cora got her feet under her quicker than the others and turned to face Kali. Her eyes widened in surprise and she threw herself backward as a gigantic form loomed up behind the Alpha.

Kali screamed in shock as the Giant Alpha the twins combined into sank its claws into her and lifted her into the air. The three betas all stared in shock as the twins threw their packmate. Kali slammed into a tree so hard, they could hear the trunk crack.

“Go.” came rumbled out in a strange commingling of two voices.

They didn’t need more encouragement as they darted away. They had parents to find.

\- - -

Peter came rushing out of the trees just as Derek charged at the two betas flanking Boyd. The giant black wolf slammed into his second. Peter pinned Derek under him and he roared in his face. The beta froze, his eyes flickering back to a confused blue for a moment before they went green again.

“He’s mine now, Alpha Hale” came the voice of the Darach.

Peter looked up at her as Danny and Stiles came up to flank him. He growled furiously as Derek tried to claw at him.

“Let him go!” Stiles snarled.

Jennifer looked at her with a frown “You’re more trouble than you’re worth, Stilinski. You’ve managed to interfere in too many of my plans.”

Stiles’ lips pulled away from her fangs in a grin that would have made the average human flinch. “Good,” she snarled.

“I’m going to enjoy killing you” Jennifer said. Peter snarled again and the Darach raised her hands in a peaceful gesture. “You know, after?”

“After?” Danny demanded, hands curved into claws ready to strike. “After what? After you kill her parents or after you use us to kill Deucalion?”

“Both, naturally.” Jennifer said, as if it was obvious. Stiles’ growl joined Peter’s.

Something whistles through the air, and Jennifer grunted, going to one knee. There was a spear sticking out of her shoulder. She wrenched it out with a grunt as Deucalion stepped into the clearing.

“It would seem, Miss Baccari,” Deucalion stated mildly. “That you have your chance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that the whole build up to combat is necessary for the continuity of the plot and all, but I'm sorta getting impatient with myself because I'm getting so excited for what I've got planned for the ending. *sighs* I hope I did okay despite all of that.\
> 
> Up Next: Conflict Resolution, Werewolf Style


	81. Eighty-One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight goes on. Parents are found. Derek is mind-controlled.

**_Eighty-One:_ **

_“That was the thing to remember about all monsters, they love to frighten people, but the minute you stare them down, they turn tail and run.”_

_~ Jeannette Walls ~_

The hunters followed the sound of snarling and growling into the trees. They were thorough in their sweep, sure that nothing could come up behind them. At regular intervals, someone radioed back to Victoria their position and status. Chris has just started to get concerned when the howling started. They had heard nothing from Allison.

_“Dad! Stop moving!”_

Chris froze as Allison’s voice crackled through over the radio. He signaled all his guys to pause and exchanged a look with Matt, who was crouched behind a fern biting his lip. Chris raised his radio “Allison, what is it?”

_“A hundred feet in front of you, members of the Alpha Pack. It looks like they’ve turned on each other.”_

A ripple of confusion went through the gathered hunters before they moved forward again. They could hear the snarling and growling now. Chris pressed himself to a tree and peeked around it just in time to see one Alpha turn into two.

“What the hell?” someone hissed.

“What are you doing?” the wounded female screeched up at the identical twins staring down at her.

“What we should have a long time ago,” one said, the other nodding.

The female hissed in anger “Traitors! Deucalion will kill you for this!”

“Maybe” said the second twin, claws flashing out with a growl. “But this isn’t really a pack is it?”

She stared up at them for a moment. “You’d give up your power, your status as Alphas to be part of Hale’s pathetic little pack?!” she demanded.

“No,” the first one replied, his claws coming out too. “We’d do it for a chance to be part of his _family_.”

Something whistled through the air then. Chris knew that sound. He pinpointed the source just as a wolfsbane arrow lodged itself in the female Alpha’s neck. She screeched and gurgled, clutching at her neck. Allison dropped out of the tree she’d been hiding in. Both of the twins turned to face her.

“You mean that?” Allison demanded.

The twins exchanged a look, and then nodded simultaneously.

“Then go help them with Deucalion.” Allison told them, knocking another arrow as Matt came out of the brush at her side. Chris took his cue from his daughter. He trusted her judgement, and besides, there was no telling whether Hale would take them in after this. If he didn’t, they would be dealt with later.

“Go” Chris said, aiming his weapon at the thrashing Kali. “We’ve got this.”

The twins exchanged another look, then turned and sprinted off.

\- - -

Derek threw Peter off of him and bolted straight at Deucalion. The self-titled Demon Wolf snarled and met him head on. Derek got a good swipe in, but was thrown aside quickly. Stiles and Danny exchanged a look and darted toward the Darach. She screeched and backhanded Stiles through the air. Danny followed quickly after.

“No!” she screamed. “This is my time! You stay!”

Jackson, Cora and Erica emerged from the trees around Boyd as Peter lunged at Deucalion, snarling as he tried to pry him off of Derek. Erica took up a guard stance next to Boyd, who was rummaging through his magic bag of trick for something that would break whatever spell the Darach had on Derek.

“Go help Stiles find her parents” Jackson told Cora as Derek wriggled free of Deucalion’s hold and turned to attack. The Darach was standing by the Nemeton, laughing her head off as her plan seemed to be holding together. “Before they die, preferably.”

Cora rolled her eyes but darted across the clearing to where Stiles was lying trapped under Danny, trying to push him off of her. Cora helped Danny right himself as she asked: “Do we know where they’re being kept?”

“Peter said there’s an old cellar around here somewhere” Stiles said, just as quietly. “I haven’t seen it yet.”

“Whatever she’s got planned, she’s gonna have to sacrifice them tonight,” Danny said. “Otherwise she wouldn’t be so damn happy.”

Stiles growled. “Not tonight, not ever” she grit out. “Start looking.”

Boyd pulled a couple of little jars and a plastic baggie with some leaves in it out of his bag. He pulled the lid off one jar and Erica sneezed. “What the hell is that?” she demanded.

“Nettle leaves” Boyd said, opening the other jar. This one made Erica lean away as the scent of wolfsbane hit her nose. “Based on his eyes, I think she dosed him with a rare strain of wolfsbane. If I get the mixture right, and we get him to breathe it in, this should counteract whatever the hell it is.”

“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?” Erica asked.

Boyd spared her a smirk “Well, you did choose me for a boyfriend.”

“Damn straight” she replied with a grin.

Peter howled as Derek dug his claws into his flank. The Alpha turned, took Derek’s shoulder into his mouth and shook him rapidly. Derek’s claws lost their grip on him as he howled and tried to pry Peter’s jaws off of him. Erica took her chance, she took the jar Boyd handed her and darted forward. She dodged Deucalion as he charged the Darach and threw all of the mixture in the jar in Derek’s face.

Peter let go, pulling away, sneezing. Erica jumped away as Derek crashed to ground, shaking as he howled and tried to get the powder off his face. He snapped and snarled when Peter drew too close. At a look from her Alpha, Erica hooked her arms around Derek’s and dragged the downed wolf to the treeline and Boyd.

Peter turned to prowl around the edges of the fight between the Demon Wolf and the Darach. He was perfectly fine waiting until one of them took the other out.

\- - -

Jane Mahealani was one of those people that was just kind, laid back and genuine. She liked to think that she took things in stride fairly well. In fact, she thought she handled waking up in a cellar tied up next to Melissa and Sheriff Stilinski and not losing it was handling the situation exceptionally well.

You know, if she ignored the howling and screaming overhead.

“Here comes the cavalry” said the Sheriff, looking up as dirt rained down on them.

Melissa had a frown on her face “I hope they left Scott at home. His asthma is always bad when it rains.”

That was the other problem. Their little cage was filling with water. Jane groaned, catching the attention of her fellow captives. “Please tell me this is a nightmare.”

“Sorry,” said Jeorek with a wince. “You really have been kidnapped in order to be sacrificed by a psychotic druid.”

“Jeo!” Melissa exclaimed, and kicked him.

“What! She’s been kidnapped, she deserves the truth!”

Melissa rolled her eyes, exasperated. She turned her head to look at Jane “Are you okay Jane?”

“I think so,” Jane replied, then winced as more howling erupted and water sloshed up around her legs and butt. “What’s the howling?”

“Werewolves” Jeorek told her. He was grinning like he hadn’t just revealed the existence of mystical creatures to Danny’s mother.

Melissa kicked him again. He grunted and shot her a glare, “What?”

Jane watched the filthy water soak into her socks in thought. She was an intelligent woman, she could see the writing on the wall. “My son and all his friends are werewolves, aren’t they?”

“Not _all_ of them,” Melissa said, trying to be comforting. “Just most of them.”

“Did he have to become a werewolf?” Jane asked.

“Jane” Melissa said seriously, looking her friend in the eyes. “If Peter hadn’t turned him, Danny would have died the day he was found in the woods last year.”

Jane nodded, but before she could reply a voice rang out above them:

_“STILES! DANNY! I found it!”_

The locked doors to the cellar rattled as someone tried to open it. The water was up around her stomach now. Jane frowned as the door rattled again. Than she yelled: “Danny! Today would be good! I don’t feel like drowning!”

There was a pause, then _“MOM?!”_

The doors heaved, the chains locking them screeched in protest as they were pulled apart and the doors crashed open. Now the rain was pouring in from the top too. Danny and Stiles darted down the creaky steps.

“Papa! Mom!” Stiles was across the room so quickly, the movement made Jane dizzy. Just as quickly Danny was crouching down in front of her.

“Hey kid” Jane said to her son. He gave her a grin around his fangs as he sliced through her restraints with his claws. “When this is over, you and me and your Dad are gonna have a talk about the werewolf thing.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Just then there was a loud groaning creak and the stairs leading out of the cellar collapsed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am such a mean person. I really didn't mean to write a cliffhanger. I was trying to make it so the last chapter wasn't so bad, but it got away from me. *sighs* Please don't kill me.
> 
> Up Next: An epic showdown.


	82. Eighty-Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An epic battle.

**_Eighty-Two:_ **

_“Oh, I’m starting to cry again. That’s what happens when you think about life being fair. And I can’t explain why it isn’t… I don’t think it’s something anybody knows.”_

_~ L.J. Smith ~_

Ethan and Aiden made it into the the clearing just as the stairs collapsed. A large portion of sodden earth went with it, taking a startled Cora down into the cellar in a rain of water and chunks of earth. She screamed once as she flailed for purchase, pulling clumps of grass down with her. The twins exchanged a look and darted out into the open. They passed Boyd and Erica, who were hovering over an unconscious Derek.

They tried to avoid the fight, but Peter was more observant of the surroundings then they thought. The gigantic black wolf loomed up between them and the cellar and they stopped. Neither twin needed to look at the other to know what they both intended to do.

They went to their knees and bared their throats to Peter Hale.

Peter snarled, eyes flashing.Their own eyes flashed red in return. Peter circled them once, then he lunged and sank his teeth into Ethan’s shoulder. Eithan bit his lip bloody as he tried not to yell. Every part of him tensed, and his eyes flashed and then slowly, the Alpha power drained out of him as Peter asserted himself and accepted him into his pack. When his jaws came loose, Ethan’s eyes were a bright electric blue.

He laid there on the ground, rain pounding down on him, watching as the process was repeated in his brother. He felt it as true pack bonds began falling into place, one after another. First to his new Alpha, then to the Alpha’s mate, then the rest.

Finally he felt his brother again.

Peter pulled away from Aiden and turned back to the battle as hunters started taking up positions in the treeline. Deucalion had transformed into his own Alpha form. Skin gone gray and black, eyes blazing red. He was bigger than before, but he didn’t resemble the monster that Peter held inside. The Darach struggled against him, her strength almost equal to Deucalion’s. Gone was Jennifer Blake, and in her place was a pale, angry creature, scarred and twisted.

Peter prowled away from the twins, and they looked at each other. Ethan, having been bitten first, recovered quicker and helped his brother to his feet. They moved quickly for the hole in the ground, peering down into water and darkness.

“Danny?” Ethan called.

“We’re here!” Danny appeared below them, water swirling around his armpits.

Aiden knelt next to his brother and grinned with sharp teeth down at Danny. Stiles appeared next to him, her own eyes flashing, “Welcome to the pack, puppies. Get ready to lift.”

Jeorek appeared then, with Cora’s arm over his shoulder. Cora was clutching at her ribs, slumped in the Sheriff’s hold. Danny himself and Stiles stabilized the injured wolf and together they hoisted her upward so that the twins could lift her out of the hole.

The cellar was filling rapidly, it was time to go. Danny boosted his mother out first, and she sat on the ground, soaked to the skin, shivering, watching with wide eyes as the huge black wolf that was Peter Hale (not that she knew that) struck. He came in on the fight from one side, clawing at the Darach as he latched teeth around Deucalion’s shoulder. The snarling got louder.

Stiles was treading water by the time Melissa and the Sheriff were boosted out, so Danny gave her an anchored point to launch herself from before he too took a flying leap and was pulled out of the hole.

Stiles took in the situation. Erica and Boyd hunched over Derek, Peter fighting with the Darach as Deucalion looked for an opening. The hunters taking up positions that would give them the advantage. Jackson was crouched next to Cora, ready to help her get clear.

“Jackson, Danny, take my parents, get Derek and Boyd and get out of here. The fewer targets the hunters have the better.” Stiles looked Cora over. The youngest Hale grimaced at her and shook her head. “Go with them Cora. Erica too.”

“What about you?” Jeorek demanded. He knew he was useless in this situation, but he didn’t have to like it.

“You two are with me” Stiles said, waving a hand at the twins. “I’m gonna have a little chat with an Argent or two.”

She didn’t wait for an answer from anyone before she darted toward the treeline. The twins shrugged at each other before they followed after her quickly. They were at the bottom of the totem pole now. Even if they weren’t, Stiles would have still outranked them.

Several of the nearest hunters didn’t like having werewolves so close to them, but Stiles ignored them as she turned to Chris, who wasn’t surprised that she’d been able to tell where he was. “Can you hit either of them?”

“Not without risking hitting Peter as well” Chris denied. He’d left too many men between where they were and town to be able to surround the clearing properly. It was just too big. He’d left Allison and Matt to deal with Kali.

“You need a distraction?”

“Wouldn’t hurt.”

“Got it.”

Stiles turned back to the cleaning and braced herself, “As soon as any of your guys have a shot, kill them both.”

She nodded to the twins, and all three wolves erupted into action. The twins went straight for Deucalion. Stiles was faster than them, and tackled the Darach, claws embedded in her shoulders as she tackled her to the ground, rolled and threw her bodily away from both herself and her mate.

Aiden hit Deucalion first, then Ethan. They drove him into the ground quickly, but were easily thrown off. They weren’t as strong as they had been not even half an hour ago. It was disorienting. Deucalion threw Ethan away like a used rag, and then roared, long and loud and Alpha in Aiden’s face. Aiden felt himself bow under the force of that howl, but forced himself to howl back in defiance as his eyes flashed blue in response to the power of the Alpha.

“Pathetic” Deucalion stated, clawed hand wrapping around Aiden’s throat. “To willingly give up all the power of an Alpha, for what? A family?”

Peter launched himself across the space between the two Alpha’s with a snarl, jaws coming down around Deucalion’s mangled shoulder. He dug his claws in, taking him to the ground and shaking his head viciously just as a shot rang across the clearing.

It was raining too hard for anyone without werewolf hearing to hear it over the pounding of the rain and roaring of the wind. Thunder and lightning cracked across the sky. Stiles scrambled through the mud on her hands and knees, trying to get enough purchase on the ground to get away from the druid looming over her.

The shot rang out, it hit its mark. Abruptly the rain stopped. All at once. The wind stopped howling, and above her, Jennifer Blake jerked once in surprise.

Then she dropped like a bag of rocks.

All the air whooshed from Stiles’ lungs as the Darach fell onto her, dead.

The clearing was quiet for what felt like forever, but was really only a breaths. Stiles gasped, heaved the druid off of her and rolled onto her hands and knees, glowing amber eyes seeking out her Alpha.

Chris Argent stepped out of the trees along, raising his rifle to take another shot.

Peter turned his head, using the surprise of the sudden change in atmosphere to his advantage. Teeth snapped. Deucalion shuddered and then went limp beneath the giant black wolf. Peter threw back his head and howled in victory.

Off in the distance howls rose in response. Aiden and Ethan joined their new Alpha and howled as one. Stiles’ voice rose up as well as she got to her knees.

Peter stepped away from the corpse of the Demon Wolf and suddenly where once a wolf had stood crouched a man. He had huge claw marks down his back and a nasty bite over one flank, but he ignored it as his red eyes scanned the clearing. His gaze locked with Stiles’ as the hunters began to enter the clearing.

Stiles crawled through the mud to Peter’s side and knelt in the vee of his legs. She cradled his bloodied head in her hands, gazed into his eyes and _searched_. The beast within his calmed at her touch, and she watched as the feral thing he kept at bay receded along with the red in his eyes. His arms came up and wrapped around her. He hit his knees and tucked his chin into her neck, breathing her in.

“There he is” Stiles whispered softly, cradling his head.

Ethan and Aiden quickly flanked the Alpha pair. Silent sentinels against those that had sworn to kill their kind.

Chris lowered his rifle, watching the wolves gathered near Deucalion’s body cautiously. “Take care of the bodies.”

“The wolves - “

“We have a treaty with the Hale Pack. So long as they hurt no one, we leave them be.” Chris replied, then added: “And last time I checked, we’ve never cared about a werewolf killing another werewolf.”

It took a lot of sloshing around for the hunters to decide to just heave the bodies into the giant hole in the ground and finish collapsing it in. The wolves remained still and silent for the duration. Stiles pulled away enough to nod in thanks to Chris as the hunters headed back to their cars.

Eventually, as Peter’s wounds began to knit together and Stiles’ bruises finished fading, Peter stirred enough to pull away from her. Stiles took the opportunity to stand and pull Peter to his feet. “Let’s go home, yeah?”

They turned and headed back toward Beacon Hills, arms wrapped around each other and flanked by the twins. Content to leave this latest nightmare behind.

“Seriously, Peter” Stiles said as they walked. “ _Clothes_. Clothes are a thing.”

“You just want me for my body” Peter said with a tired smirk.

“ _Clothes_ ” Stiles huffed back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday the 13th everybody! Hope this satisfies you needs.
> 
> This is it, the ending of the 3A arc. *wipes sweat off brow* I feel relieved that it's finished. Now we're headed into original content-land. We'll be coming back around to that choice Stiles made at the beginning. Hopefully it will satisfy both you and me. ^_^
> 
> We'll do the usual cool down between drama fluffies next. Then we'll dive into the Final Act.


	83. Eighty-Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pack spends time at home after the battle.

**_Eighty-Three:_ **

_“When I stand before thee at the day’s end, thou shalt see my scars and know that I had my wounds, and also my healing.”_

_~ Rabindranath Tagore ~_

By the time Peter and Stiles got back to the Stilinski house, Isaac’s wounds had finished healing and he was out cold on the sofa. Jackson had wedged himself into the small vacant space next to the taller boy and was watching the room with lazy eyes that glowed faintly in the dim light.

Lydia was asleep in Jeorek’s recliner, a college level math book on her stomach. Erica, Boyd and Cora had raided the kitchen for snacks and were crowded around the TV watching Cartoon Network.

Jane Mahealani was sitting at the kitchen table across from the Sheriff who was grimly filling out paperwork about his own disappearance. Melissa was making tea as she watched Danny, who was sitting across from his mother, unable to meet her gaze.

Jane had yet to say anything.

When the Alpha Pair came in, followed by the twins they caught the attention of everyone in the house. Peter’s gaze swept over the members of his pack and he frowned when he couldn’t find Scott or Derek.

“Scott took him upstairs” Melissa said softly, carrying a tray of mugs to the table.

“How is he?” Peter asked softly.

“He’s tired, but neither Boyd or I think there will be any lasting damage. He’ll be okay.”

Across the room, Cora visibly relaxed as Peter nodded. He accepted the mug that Melissa gave him and sat down next to Jeorek wearily. Stiles rearranged him so that she was sitting in his lap with his arms around her. He didn’t mind.

There was silence for a few minutes. The twins stood awkwardly by the door for a bit, unsure of what to do with themselves until Erica threw a granola bar at Aiden’s head and told them to have a seat. They joined their new packmates in front of the television, still a little tense.

In the kitchen, Jane finally spoke “So, werewolf, huh?”

“All the cool kids are werewolves these days” Danny fired off, then winced and smiled sheepishly at his mother.

She raised her eyebrows at him. His shoulders slumped in a silent apology. “I don’t care if you turn into a tutu wearing hippopotamus on the full moon, Daniel. I care that you didn’t tell us.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Will this affect your schoolwork?”

“It never has, I don’t see why it would now.”

“You’re okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, alright then” she said, then added, “You are going to sit down with your father and I and explain everything.”

“Everything?” Danny asked in a small voice.

“ _Everything_.” said Jane with narrowed eyes. Danny nodded rapidly. Satisfied she finished her tea and then stood up, rounded the table and hugged her son. She squeezed him hard, pulled away, looked him in the eyes for a moment. When she was satisfied with what she saw she said “I expect you home first thing in the morning for that talk. Goodnight everyone.”

“Good night” was the chorused reply.

Jeorek took the opportunity presented, abandoned his paperwork, kissed Melissa briefly, and then left with Danny’s mother to drive her home.

“Well” said Stiles after a few minutes. “Now I know where he gets it.”

On the couch, Jackson snorted “You have no idea.”

\- - -

Scott lay on his bed watching Derek sleep. He was carding his fingers through damp hair and watching his ribs expand with every breath. Derek had wrapped both arms around Scott’s middle as soon as he got out of the shower and set his head on his boyfriend’s abs and dozed off.

“I thought I lost you” Scott whispered.

Derek grunted and turned his head so that he could gaze up at Scott with one sleepy green eye. “Take more than a crazy to kill me” he muttered into his belly.

Scott smoothed his fingertips over Derek’s scruffy jawline “Yeah. Are you okay?”

“Tired.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Derek sighed and heaved himself up so that he was draped over Scott and he could look him right in the eyes “I don’t remember anything. I remember being tied up, and your parents were there. And she was talking about how I was going to help her get revenge and how I didn’t have a choice. Next thing I know I’m lying in the mud with Boyd and Erica leaning over me.”

“Is it okay that I’m kinda relieved that you don’t remember it?”

“Yeah” Derek huffed, then leaned in to kiss him. When he was done he resumed his position wrapped around Scott’s middle. “I’m kinda glad I don’t too.”

Scott nodded and went back to carding his fingers through Derek’s rapidly drying hair. The wolf let out a pleased sound and he relaxed some, weighing down Scott. There wasn’t that much difference in their heights, but Derek was bulkier, with more muscle mass, which made him a good thirty pounds heavier than Scott. Between that and the tight grip backed by werewolf strength, Scott knew he wasn’t going anywhere for a while.

Somehow, he was okay with that too.

\- - -

By the time Jeorek got back, all the kids in the living room were asleep. Melissa was draping a blanket over the twins when he came. He raised an enquiring eyebrow at her and she smiled. All was well. He nodded and shut down most of the lights and met her at the stairs. They went up them hand in hand, shutting off the rest of the lights as they went.

Melissa stuck her head into Scott’s room, and turned off his light at the sight of him and Derek asleep. The light in Stiles’ room was on, but there were low voices sounding from the other side of the door, so they let them be.

Once inside their room Jeorek changed into clean underwear and an old t-shirt with a faded logo before flopping down face first on the pillowtop mattress that had moved in when Melissa had.

Melissa chuckled “Really?”

Jeorek grunted, then wriggled around like a landed fish for a second to get the covers out from under himself. He rolled over onto his back and yanked them up and over his body. He watched as Melissa washed her face and brushed her teeth before the light in the bathroom went off.

She crawled into bed, elbowed her husband until he was in the position to spoon her and said, “You’re brushing your teeth before you kiss me again.”

“You got it” Jeorek replied.

“They’re okay, right?” she asked softly.

“They’re fine” he told her, and kissed the back of her head, which was all he could reach. “They’re going to be just fine.”

“Good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this one is kinda short, but I decided that Stiles and Peter deserve their own fluffy chapter all to themselves. So you got pack feels because there were a few things to address there before Peter and Stiles went off to hide on their own. Peter is a responsible Alpha and makes sure his pack is all okay before he hides from them.
> 
> So Steter fluffies is next on the agenda.


	84. Eighty-Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles and Peter get some time alone after Peter kills Deucalion

**_Eighty-Four:_ **

_“No matter what has happened. No matter what you’ve done. No matter what you will do. I will always love you. I swear it.”_

_~ C.J. Redwine, Defiance ~_

Peter was a good Alpha. He knew that when it came down to it, the betas were all relying on him to be strong for them. He didn’t have the luxury of falling to pieces like some of the others had. He stayed calm as Danny explained being a werewolf to his mother. He waited patiently for the conversation to conclude, then he quietly checked on each member of his his pack.

Stiles remained at his side through all of it. She was the one that tugged him toward the staircase after he got a nod from one or the other of the twins. She knew him well enough by now that he didn’t have to say anything, she just opened Scott’s bedroom door a crack when they reached it. Once he knew they were both fine (both breathing) he let her tug him down the hall and into her room.

It wasn’t until after she had closed the door, turned off the lights and he was curled her in the bed that he let his veneer of calm crack and splinter. He shuddered violently and Stiles turned in his arms so that she could get her around him. They gazed at each other for a minute, then Peter shuddered again and tucked his face into the crook of his neck.

Stiles pulled him close. “You are not that monster” she said softly into his ear.

“I almost was” he replied, voice bitten out. “I can still feel it.”

“You are not that monster” Stiles repeated, voice harder. She had to use her werewolf strength to manage it, but she turned his face up so that he had to look her in the eyes. “A monster would not have stopped. A monster would have ripped me to shreds for getting in the way.”

Peter jerked “No! I would never, could never -”

“I know” Stiles replied. She knew he would never hurt her, just like he would never hurt the pack piled up around the house. “You are not a monster.”

“I’m broken, Goscislawa” Peter muttered. “I will always be broken.”

“No, you won’t” Stiles said, eyes narrowed as she made him look at her again. She knew he was letting her, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her from getting her point across. “You _were_ broken. Now you’re healing. You’re better every day Peter, it’s slow, but you’re healing. Maybe one day you won’t be able to feel that beast deep inside you, but until then, you have me. You have our pack. Our future.”

Peter heaved a sigh and let himself sink into her embrace. He stayed silent as he stared out the window at the cloudy sky. He had killed again. Was there any difference between what he had done to Laura and what he had done to Deucalion? He had killed them for different reasons, of course. Laura because he was out of his mind and couldn’t recognize anyone, much less the Alpha he had felt abandoned by. Deucalion he had killed because the other Alpha was a threat.

They were still dead.

“You did what you had to do to protect us” Stiles said into the darkness, like she could read his mind.

The truth was, by now she just knew him that well.

“I’d love you either way, you know. Monster or not.”

Peter huffed into Stiles’ hair and couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face “I love you… even when you leave the cap off the toothpaste.”

Stiles laughed and swatted at him. They settled down into a comfortable state, just holding onto each other. Stiles liked these moments, when it was just them and she could just see the future rolling out before her. Peter liked them because he felt grounded. Closer to sane than any other time. Holding onto his anchor and knowing she wasn’t going anywhere.

“Do you think it will always be this way?” Stiles asked softly a while later.

“What will?”

“Our lives? Do you think we’ll always be fighting back some new baddie that wants to kill us?”

“No, I don’t think so” Peter said thoughtfully. “I think after a while it will calm down. We’re still a new pack, so there are bound to be growing pains as we establish ourselves.”

“So all of this is because people think we’re weak, but eventually word’ll get out that we’re actually pretty strong, so they’ll leave us alone?”

“Essentially, yes.”

“Oh, good.”

Stiles wriggled around then, turning so that her back was pressed into Peter’s chest just as the door creaked open. By now the house was dark and silent. The sky outside was beginning to lighten outside, but the Hale Pack would sleep through the weekend probably.

Twin pairs of electric blue eyes peered through the crack in the doorway. Stiles had been wondering if they would see the newest members of their pack that night. She felt Peter huff into her neck in amusement at their hesitance, so she elbowed him. He grunted and she held out a hand in invitation to the twins.

Ethan, being the less guarded twin, moved forward first. He took the proffered hand and climbed onto the bed with his new Alpha and his mate. He quickly became enveloped in the sweet scent of Pack Mother and he tucked himself into her belly and she wrapped his arms around her. He felt Peter’s large hand in his hair as the bed dipped again under Aiden’s weight.

Aiden plastered himself against Peter’s back, snuffling a little to take in all the combined scents in the room. He could smell all the members of the pack in here, and he got the feeling they ended up in this bed a lot. Most prominent were the combined scents of Peter and Stiles. He liked it, he decided.

Stiles rolled onto her back and Ethan just went with it, settling into her side as she reached an arm over Peter and patted Aiden’s shoulder in a comforting manner. A pleased grumble rolled through Peter and into the three wolves in the bed with him. Stiles made an answering sound and the four settled down as the pack bonds that had already formed settled more firmly into place.

“Sleep” Stiles said softly.

And they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Moonday everybody!
> 
> Soooo, fluffies! Fluffies all over the place! With bonus twins! *pinwheels arms* We're headed into Act IV now my lovelies. ^_^ This is where we deviate massively from 3B, because I am still in denial that 3B even happened so we're gonna pretend it didn't. Okay? Okay.
> 
> Writing this one took a while because we had a power outage in the middle of it. It was down for several hours today, which totally pissed me off, because I live in southern Arizona where it's hitting about 105 F or higher every day. As a result, this chap is a little bit on the short side. Sorry guys.


	85. Eighty-Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life after the Alpha Pack

**_Eighty-Five:_ **

_“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass… It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”_

_~ Vivian Greene ~_

Over the next few weeks, Stiles let the calm that always followed a life-threatening situation settle over her life. Everyone went back to school on Monday, ready to get the semester over with. They celebrate Halloween the same way they do every year, by pranking Coach. Then they spend a fun pack night eating sugar and watching all the werewolf movies they can get their hands on at the Hale House.

There are lots of little trick or treaters daring each other to ring the bell of the mysterious house. Apparently the creepy mythos surrounding the Hale House hadn’t vanished with the rebuild, it had only increased. The theories were entertaining. From witchcraft to ghosts to zombies.

Peter had fun opening the front door with his fangs showing an red eyes to hand out candy to those that were brave enough to take up the dare and ring the bell. Stiles was sure that by morning there would be rumors that Peter Hale was a vampire would be floating around town.

A group of teens from a different school tried to egg the place, since it was common knowledge that many of the Beacon Hills Lacrosse team hung out at the place, including its captain. Some snarling and howling and glowing eyes from the treeline from the boys sent them scattering into their cars.

Jackson was thrilled.

The twins spent some time walking on eggshells around the rest of the pack. They had terrorized and (in many cases) tried to kill their new packmates. Naturally, it made them weary. Danny let Ethan stay on tenterhooks for a bit until he just rolled his eyes, grabbed his face and kissed him. Ethan followed him around like a lovesick puppy after than. Doubly so because he was a _werewolf_ and Stiles and Erica found enjoyment about making jokes about it.

Ethan took it pretty well.

Aiden put in a lot of hours grovelling. Trying to convince Lydia to even look at him twice. Lydia could be vindictive and mean, especially when she felt she’d been wronged in some way. She wasn’t, however, the type to deny herself something that she wanted. So after leading him around by his nose and making him do menial things for her for a while, she agreed to let him take her to Winter Formal.

Thanksgiving came, and by consensus of all interested parties (mostly the people who would be cooking) it was decided that the Hales would be hosting. The Sheriff did the same thing he did every year, he sat at the counter sampling Stiles’ pie rejects, then he would take them to the station and let his deputies have at it.

Scott somehow managed to convince Derek that making paper mache pumpkins to decorate the house with was a grand idea. Derek had recovered from the trauma of being taken over by the Darach by then, but he still had moments where he was quieter than usual. He would stare into the middle distance with a small frown on his face and Stiles wondered how much he actually remembered about it. Scott had taken on the job of trying to get Derek to smile as often as he could. At the end of the project both of them were covered in glue and orange dye, but they had a dozen pumpkins of various size and shape (and lopsidedness) to decorate the house with.

Derek wore a tiny smile for two days after that, so Scott called it a win.

Danny subjected everyone to traditional Hawaiian thanksgiving fare. There were pineapples and spam and Stiles and her unassuming palate enjoyed watching the finicky eaters in the pack make faces while they tried to say it was good. She had two helpings and took the leftovers home with her.

After that it was time to study for finals. The flashcards that Scott was prone to making made a reappearance as they held study groups and quizzed each other. Jackson carried around bouncy balls that he liked to bounce off walls or other people. The irritation caused by the repetitive noise and/or being hit cause more than one fight.

Stiles threw her chemistry book out her bedroom window in a fit of pique. Unfortunately for Mr. Donovan next door, she’d put her werewolf strength behind it and dented the top of his car.

Allison, and by proxy, Matt were around a lot more. Taking advantage of the study groups as well. It made Erica, Danny and Stiles uncomfortable. Stiles always made sure her back was never to Matt. Erica kept Boyd between her and the photographer. Danny glared holes in the side of his head.

They were very good at holding a grudge.

Winter Formal came. Aiden finally got his date. Jackson won king and Lydia deferred her crown to the runner up just so that she could see Isaac in a sparkly tiara while he danced with his boyfriend. Isaac hadn’t even run, but apparently someone had done it for him in an attempt at some sort of joke. Isaac was a fluffy puppy though and took it with grace and a set of flashing eyes.

Stiles and Scott went together out of solidarity. They both had older boyfriends who preferred not to attend high school social events. So the siblings went with their best friend instead. Stiles wore a sparkly dark blue number with a flowy skirt in case she got involved in an werewolf shenanigans, and Scott wore a tie to match.

Erica wore a red and black dress with roses in her hair like a Spanish dancer and made Boyd wear a classy red vest under his jacket. Ethan got Danny a corsage. Danny being Danny, let it slide and thanked him for the gesture with kisses.

Cora attended alone. Not that she hadn’t had several invitations from several boys (and one very bashful girl), she just hadn’t been inclined to accept any of them. She’d very bluntly informed them when asked that sex was disgusting and she couldn’t fathom how people could be so obsessed with it. She was fine on her own, thanks. Peter had sent her a grin and shot off a comment about how asexuals kept the world turning that made Scott snort Dr Pepper out his nose.

Winter break brought about a meshing of traditions. The Stilinskis celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah. They drew the Hales into their midst which brought Isaac and the twins along. Lydia wasn’t religious, but she liked the Christmas season if only because of presents. The Argents went off to France for the holiday. Erica and her mother spent time with the Boyds (confusing everyone until someone remembered that Boyd was not his first name). Danny wished everyone _Mele Kalikimaka_ , and sang carols in Hawaiian. He claimed it was to bring culture to the ones he cared about, but mostly it was because of the expression the phrase left on most peoples faces.

New Years was a fiasco. It fell on a full moon and between that and the alcohol consumed by their human members, it was agreed that no one would speak of it again. Allison was disappointed that she’d missed it when she heard about it.

Scott was found by Deputy Parrish wandering down Peach Street in nothing but his boxers being followed by Lydia and Boyd. Lydia had been filming it for posterity while Scott muttered about stupid boyfriends and space heaters. Boyd was carrying a blanket and every now and then tried to wrap it around Scott’s shoulders.

The Sheriff had to work, so Melissa spent the evening with the Mahealanis explaining about how to care for your werewolf teenager in ten easy steps.

After the ball fell, the pack ran. They rang in the new year with a chorus of howls that rose up over the town in a way that would set most anyone on edge. The residents of town had started to get used to how strange Beacon Hills actually was and most people ignored it.

January heralded in a new semester, and with it the PSATs. Scott started reading all the books on his teachers reading lists. He also started structuring SAT words into his sentences. Most of them had to work for their grades. They couldn’t all be geniuses like Lydia, Stiles and Danny.

Toward the end of the month was the one year anniversary of Stiles and Peter’s first meeting, and the bite that changed her. The pair had a quiet dinner together and talked about things. Things that had changed, things that had happened. Their future. It was a nice evening that reaffirmed for both of them that everything they had been through was worth it.

Then the nightmares began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I admit it. This is a filler chapter. When we reached the end of 3A I realized how far behind in the timeline I was compared to where I wanted it to be. So this chapter kind of nudges things along to the one year of Stiles getting the bite. That's what I get for screwing around with when things are set and how I want them to happen over time.
> 
> I hope it's interesting and that ya'll can understand why.


	86. Eighty-Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles has nightmares. Isaac gets the stuffing hugged out of him. Peter and Stiles have a talk in which there is biting.

**_Eighty-Six:_ **

_“Those heart-hammering nightmares that start to lose coherence even as you’re waking up from them, but that still manage to leave their mouldering fingerprints all across your day.”_

_~ Mike Carey, The Naming of the Beasts ~_

She had them for days before the first time she woke up screaming. Dark, muddy things with vague shapes drifting in and out of sight. Always with this sense of fear and uncertainty casting a pall on everything.

There was something dreadful lurking out in the darkness, she could feel it.

The first time she woke up screaming it was a little after three and she couldn't stop. Scott and her dad tumbled into the room in a panic. Jeorek had a rifle in one hand. Both had been expecting to find some hideous monster trying to eat her.

Jeorek manages to switch from cop-mode into parent-mode quickly enough to make Scott vaguely disoriented. Jeorek shoved the shotgun into Scott's arms and had Stiles in his own in seconds.

Stiles broke down into a sobbing mess in her father's arms as Scott carefully set the weapon on the desk. Then he crawled into the bed with his sister and father and set a hand on her ankle.

Stiles can't bring herself to even try to go back to sleep. In the morning she stumbled down the stairs with big dark circles under her eyes.

Melissa gave her a plate of food and ran a hand through her hair in a comforting way before she heads up the stairs to sleep off her shift.

Jeorek told her about the nightmare, then resolved to call Peter when he got to the station. There's no point in not calling in their big gun. Stiles won't be happy with it, but Jeorek had this habit of doing everything he could to protect his children.

If that meant ratting her out to her mate, so be it.

Scott could have ridden the wave of his concern all the way to school, but he says nothing. Stiles had looked tired for days before, now she looks like someone gave her two black eyes.

There were some things not even super werewolf healing could fix. One of those things being stress.

Stiles wasn't just stressed though, she was terrified. It shows in the way she hugs Isaac as soon as she sees him... because all she can see are his vacant, dead eyes as he swings from a tree.

Isaac, bless him, let her hug him for as long as she wanted.

\- - -

For as long as she could remember, Stiles had been prone to nightmares. After her mother died she had had them quite frequently alongside the panic attacks. As she looked up at the stars dotting the sky overhead through the trees she was really grateful that this time, she didn’t have to deal with it all on her own.

The warm presence at her back shifted and a chin settled on her shoulder. “Is that the first one you can remember?” Peter asked her.

Stiles nodded “Yeah. The other ones just give me the creeps, you know? Vague hooded shapes moving through the mist kind of creeps. Not the screaming horrors.”

“Is there more to it than just dreams?”

Stiles thought about it for a few minutes. “I’ve always been prone to bad dreams, but” she shook her head, “I’ve never felt like this before. There’s something different about these dreams.”

“I’ll ask Boyd to find out what he can about dream magic.” Peter said softly to her, pulling her down into the hammock and bundling her up in the blanket they had dragged out here with them. “I’ll take a look at the archive too. You can help.”

Stiles snorted “That’s a fun date night, right there.”

Peter chuckled and Stiles could hear the smirk in his voice when he said “You _like_ research.”

Stiles grinned and then rolled over to bury her face in Peter’s neck so he couldn’t see the expression on her face. “Nerdy is sexy” she said.

“Yes” Peter said, deadpan. “Talk nerdy to me, darling. Oh baby. Oh baby.”

Stiles snorted, then dug her teeth into the meat at the juncture where neck met shoulder. Peter’s whole being jolted and then a dark growl rumbled through him. Stiles knew that his eyes would be red if she looked up. She didn’t, instead she dug her teeth in a little more and let a little fang into it.

“Don’t start something you don’t plan to finish” was whispered softly into her ear. Stiles shivered and let go. She licked the bite mark and then chanced a glance up at the Alpha. His bright ruby eyes were dark, smoldering with banked embers and Stiles tried not to move. Her wolf moved restlessly under her skin and she followed the instinct that told her that submission on her part was her only way out of this.

She bared her throat.

Peter growled again, this time pleased. His nose brushed along her neck and he inhaled deeply before his own teeth set into her neck. She gasped and her hand spasmed into his hair. He growled again, pulled away and rumbled “ _Mine_.”

“Yes” Stiles whispered back. “Yours.”

He huffed in satisfaction and she could see the wolf recede from his eyes as they settled back again. Neither of them had drawn blood. They wouldn’t until Stiles turned eighteen in a few months. A mating bite to cement the bond between them. Stiles knew Peter was being patient with her. Knew that most other Alphas probably wouldn’t have given her the choice if she’d done something like bite him like that.

She couldn’t help it though. As the bond grew stronger and stronger and she became more and more in tune with her wolf the more she wondered why they were waiting. She knew it was the best thing though, and resolved not to do _that_ again.

At least, not for a few more months anyway.

\- - -

The dreams continued. Most of them were vague and mostly just unsettling. Every week or so she had one that she  woke screaming from. A vivid, bloody death for each member of her pack, her family. Something so vivid she forgot for a few minutes that it wasn’t _real_. That it was a dream and that the person it had been about was safe and whole.

Boyd didn’t know much about dreams, or dream magic. That was a more subtle, advanced form of magic that Boyd had yet to reach in his training. He went to Deaton, and the two began to research the possibilities.

Peter began a systematic search through the Hale library, without luck. Lydia joined him when she could spare a few moments, but they were headed into the tail end of junior year, and their homework only seemed to increase. Stiles fell asleep over her books, or several research books once or twice a week.

On those night the dreams weren’t as bad. Peter watched over her, so she felt safer.

However, things, when left to stew too long, rarely ever just up and went away. It would be counting their chickens thinking that all of this was just Stiles’ subconscious trying to work through things. None of them were that lucky. There was very little any of them could do about it though.

Then, several weeks later Stiles spotted one of them. One of those vaguely ominous hooded figures. She saw it and she stared until Jackson jolted her attention away. When she looked back, there was nothing standing in the shadowy corner of the quad.

She knew she wasn’t dreaming. She was awake.

So how had she seen it, if not as an indication that it was real? Real, and that she, and possibly her pack, were all in very real danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo.... that's about as close to smut as we're ever gonna get kids. *turns red* I have no idea where the biting thing came from, it just sort of popped out. So, that's as close as we get. I don't write smut. Like. At. All. I'm ace so it makes be uncomfortable and I'm really super bad at it.
> 
> Sorry, not sorry. *shrugs*


	87. Eighty-Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles continues to dream. Cora has a idea, and Peter unearths a possibility.

**_Eighty-Seven:_ **

_“I think that love is stronger than habits or circumstances. I think it is possible to keep yourself for someone for a long time, and still remember why you were waiting when she comes at last… I would enter your sleep if I could, and guard you there, and slay the thing that hounds you, as I would if it had the courage to face me in fair daylight. But I cannot come in unless you dream of me.”_

_~ Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn ~_

Peter’s eyes very rarely left Stiles after that first sighting. His mate was scared, terrified in a way that he couldn’t combat physically. When she was at school (trying to make it through the tail end of senior year with her brain intact) she was surrounded by the pack. Their numbers were flush enough that Stiles shared every class with at least one of her packmates.

All of them knew about the nightmares.

Stiles was no artist, never had been. On her best day she could draw stick figures. Cora, however, was a very talented artist. One night, after another screaming nightmare and two cups of tea Cora had a thought. The Hales had all been camping out at the Stilinski house since that first nightmare about Isaac. The rest of the pack came and went, often staying over, but not all at once.

So Cora dug through her things, pulled out her pencil case and her sketchbook and stationed herself in the armchair kitty corner to the couch where Stiles was sandwiched between her uncle and the subject of this latest dream. It was Jackson’s first time as the subject of one of Stiles’ nightmares, and he was handling it well, even if he did look completely and utterly wigged out as Stiles clung onto him like a leech.

“Okay, describe them.”

“What?” Stiles asked, looking over at Cora.

“The figures in the robes. The ones you keep seeing everywhere” Cora said, flipping open the sketchbook and choosing a pencil. “Maybe if we have a better idea of what they look like, it will help us narrow down the search.”

Stiles nodded, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she began to talk. There are three of them. She can tell because they have varied heights between them and there had been a couple of times she’d seen them all together. They’re hooded, all in gray, but kind of blurred, like there’s some kind of fog or mist obscuring them from sight.

It’s very unsettling.

Cora asked specific questions. Male? Female? Horns? Did they carry anything? Questions that help Stiles pinpoint more specific details. As they went, Peter began to get a vague notion in the back of his mind. He let it ruminate there for the duration. The picture that began to become clearer and clearer as they went filled him with dread.

If he was right, then Stiles had done something anger some very powerful beings. If he was right, he wasn’t sure he could protect her.

He would die trying, though. Giving up was out of the question.

Stiles’ grip on Jackson slowly eased over the course of the conversation. Eventually, she slumped over tiredly onto Peter’s shoulder and the blond found that he had full range of motion back. He watched her doze off on the Alpha for a few minutes before he looked up and met Peter’s gaze.

“This is more than just a few nightmares, isn’t it?” he asked softly.

The pinched look Peter wore tightened and he nodded “If I’m right, this may be worse than anything we’ve ever seen.”

“Okay” Cora said, then she lifted the sketchbook and flipped it around so that Peter could see it.

Jackson shuddered, and somewhere in the back of his mind could appreciate Cora’s artistry for what it was. Talent and Skill. It didn’t make it any less creepy, he knew, but he could appreciate the fact that Cora had drawn three sinister figures in gray that looked like they might jump off the page at him and consume his soul.

Peter’s eyes narrowed and a he looked grimmer than he had before. He pulled Stiles into him, sheltering her from the image Cora had drawn instinctively. He was glad she had fallen asleep.

“What is it?” Danny asked from the other couch where he’d been keeping a watch out the big picture window at the front of the house.

“I’ll need to do some research to be sure, but…” Peter sighed, suddenly looking worn.

“What are they?”

“The _Moirae_ , I think.”

“The what now?” Jackson asked.

“It’s Greek mythology” Peter said. “They’re usually described differently, but you can’t exactly expect supernatural beings of unknown power to just, stay the same, over the years. It’s survival, change with the times or be killed off. After thousands of years the supernatural world has gone from exposed, every day, way of the world things to bedtime stories and cheesy horror films.”

“What are they?”

The four conscious wolves in the room turned as one to gaze at Jeorek, who was standing in the doorway. He was leaning on the doorframe like he’d been listening for a while now.

“If I’m right, they’re very, very dangerous” Peter said cautiously, eyes flitting down to check on Stiles. “Popular media has a tendency to call them the Fates.”

“The Fates. As in three chicks who decide how long people live?” Danny asked.

“There’s more to it than that” Peter said. “There are tales about them being able to alter the fate of a person. To change it. They can go back along the thread of any one person and effect change.”

“Wait, so if they don’t like something, they can just change it?” Jackson demanded.

“No. There’s more to it than that.” Peter looked thoughtful as he tried to remember what he had read before. “It’s more like a means to an end. They have the power to effect change, but they aren’t the ones that _make_ the change. If you don’t like how something’s turned out, you can go to the Fates and try to convince them to let you go back and try to change something.”

“I bet that’s not so easy.”

“No. There’s always a price. Always a consequence to the person who asks. _If_ they decide to even listen to you, much less actually _do_ something. It’s a last resort.”

Jeorek came into the room fully and sat down next to Peter, gazing at his daughter as she slept in the Alpha’s arms. Everyone was silent for a while, contemplating the information given. Jeorek met Peter’s gaze “You’ll protect her?”

“With everything I am” Peter promised. It was easy to reiterate a promise he had already made. He could see in the Sheriff’s eyes that he had come to the same conclusion as Peter.

Stiles had done something to attract the attention of the Moirae. Either she would in the future, seek them out to try and change something, or she already had and a change had been made and she was now seeing the consequences of that choice.

It was obvious now to both of them that whatever had happened that had caused Stiles to seek out the Fates, it had involved the gruesome deaths of each member of the pack. Nothing less would cause her to do such a thing.

What they needed to do was find out what it was that had been changed so that they could prevent it from happening. What they needed to do was find out what the Fates could possibly want with Stiles now, after everything had been said and done.

No one spoke. Stiles continued to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so yes, the Fates basically. Who else to make a deal with to change your destiny than them, right? I'm playing it fast and loose with the mythos though. I'm not sticking to any one basic description. Three women clothed in white isn't exactly as sinister as three vaguely amorphous figures hooded in gray.
> 
> Teen Wolf kinda takes the mythos and twists it into something new anyway, so there's that.
> 
> On a different note, I've got a hugely busy week ahead of me and I can't guarantee that the next update will be within the 3-5 day schedule I've been keeping to. I'll do my best, but I can't promise anything.


	88. Eighty-Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles continues to keep seeing things... Only, is that one trying to talk to her?

**_Eighty-Eight:_ **

_“Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant filled with odd little waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don’t always like.”_

_~ Lemony Snicket ~_

There wasn’t much any of them could do, now that they had a fairly certain idea of who was haunting Stiles. The Fates were so far outside the scope of anything any of them had ever dealt with before that not even Doctor Deaton really had any ideas over what to do. He suggested a seance maybe, or even sending a direct inquiry to the Fates if they were feeling especially impatient.

He hinted that that might anger them, though. Stiles wasn’t too keen on angering a set of ultra-powerful being who may or may not _already be mad at her_. There was nothing for it, so they waited.

Waiting wasn’t really a strong suit any of them had mastered. Lydia could be patient, so could Peter, but they weren’t the souls of discretion when it came to the people they cared about. Lydia was vindictive and could be the kind of mean that laid waste to small villages. Peter was the kind of patient that involved stalking and dead animals left on doorsteps before you woke up one morning to find you’d been kidnapped and trapped in a maze you had to escape alive.

The twins were the kind of people that needed a target. Point them at something and let them loose and they would tear to shreds in the time it took to say _supercalifragilisticexpialidocious_. Ethan had Danny to distract him. Sweet, kind, intelligent Danny who hid his ability to manipulate behind charm and a killer set of dimples. Danny who was actually using his new boyfriend to help explain things to his parents. Aiden was too confused to be useful to anyone. Lydia was playing him like a banjo, and he knew it. He actually kind of liked it, but it made him a little bit more useless in general than he would ever admit.

Jackson was the sort of useful that really kind of wasn’t. He cared, sure, but that didn’t stop him from being a douche to all and sundry. Isaac called it his default setting while Danny nodded agreeably in the background. Jackson just growled and said when they had something he could fight to call him, until then he was leaving the voodoo to the brainy people. Moments like that made Stiles wonder why someone as sweet as Isaac would want to be with someone that was such a massive asshole. But Isaac usually just looked stupidly fond, so she never actually asked.

Erica was helping Boyd research from the Emissary end of things. There wasn’t much there. While Druids did have some magic that dealt in dreams, it was never anything Deaton had ever studied. He said it was too close to the darker stuff than he liked, so he had never felt inclined to look into it with anything more that superficial interest.

Derek dealt with the invisible threat the same way he did everything else. He became taciturn and grumpy and spent a lot of time out in the woods. Scott postulated one day while he and Stiles were trying to kick each other’s asses at Call of Duty that maybe he went out there to get naked and commune with his inner wolf. Stiles laughed and suggested that maybe Scott should ask.

It was Cora that noticed it the first time it happened. Mostly, she figured, it was because Scott wasn’t actually in AP History, otherwise she might not have been paying as much attention as she was. They had all taken to keeping one eye on their Pack Mom.

Sometimes she stared off into the corners of the room like there was something there. There was, but they couldn’t see it.

So Cora was the first one to see it. Stiles’ heart rate spiked, and Cora turned to look at her just in time to see the older girl pale rapidly to a shade that made Cora think of a porcelain doll she’d been given one ear for Christmas by her grandmother. Small werewolves and fragile glass did not go well together, Cora had learned.

“Stiles?” she hissed, quiet enough to only be heard by Stiles.

Stiles’ entire body twitched. Her frame so tense as she stared into the corner that Cora thought she might snape the desk she watch clutching in half. Cora followed her gaze and her back straightened. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at whatever Stiles was watching.

There was a haze. Like a heat mirage, but dark a smoky. It wavered, giving it a vaguely human shape. It didn’t seem very ominous, but Cora could feel a sort of wary dread coiling up in the bottom of her stomach.

If she could see the figure, vague and hazy as it was, what could Stiles see?

\- - -

There was a boy in the corner of the room. Stiles knew she was probably giving everything away with how tense she was, with how she was staring… but it was just a _boy_. There were no hooded figures lurking around (she’d checked), no feeling of fear and dread crawling down her spine. Just a boy in a flannel shirt standing in the corner.

He wasn’t really a boy, Stiles decided. Young man, more like. Maybe twenty, twenty-two. Tall, lanky, dark hair shorn close to his head in a buzz cut. He had amber eyes that were filled with a sorrow that made Stiles _ache_. Her eyes traveled over him curiously. Worn jeans, graphic tee under red flannel. A familiar patterning of moles across his jaw.

She stared, and then _he met her eyes_.

Her entire being seized up in surprise. He saw her just as clearly as she could see him. Something about him struck a chord inside her. He felt familiar, like she’d known him for years but he’d been away for a long time.

He reached toward her, mouthing something at her, trying very hard to get her to listen to him. The space between her eyebrows creased and she frowned as she tried to figure out what he was saying. She couldn’t hear him though, and she had always been crap at lip reading.

“Stiles?!”

Stiles jerked and the guy blinked out of existence. She turned shakily to face Cora, who was looking at her with more worry in her eyes than Stiles could remember ever seeing before.

Cora set a hand on her shoulder “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know?” Stiles glanced back at the corner, but it remained stubbornly empty.

“Is it like that every time?” Cora asked softly.

Stiles’ eyes flew back to Cora’s “You saw him?”

“Him?” Cora asked. “I saw a shape, but it was weird and blurry.”

Stiles sat back in her seat as Lydia appeared next to them, a crease between her eyebrows in concern. Stiles could still feel her heart racing and she pressed the palm of one hand to her chest at the feeling. “I think we might want to revisit that seance idea after all.”

Cora and Lydia exchanged a worried look over Stiles’ head as a vague idea began to form in her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so proud of myself! I spelled supercalifragilisticexpialidocious correctly on the first first try! *throws confetti*
> 
> Okay, so we're headed into the ending. It's gonna be more angsty and less actiony that in the past. This section of the fic is all about things coming around full circle and all that. Then in a couple of chapters we'll head into the happy happy fluffies that I like to roll around in.
> 
> You guys are all so amazing for having stuck with me this long! *hands out cookies*


	89. Eighty-Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are an unsafe amount of candles because Jackson panics in the middle of CVS.

**_Eighty-Nine:_ **

_“Hysteria is impossible without an audience. Panicking by yourself is the same as laughing alone in an empty room. You feel really silly.”_

_~Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters ~_

Jackson liked to think that over the last year or so, he had become a better person. Isaac and Danny kept telling him he was. Danny was his best friend, had been his best friend since they were in fourth grade playing in the sandbox and Danny had let Jackson pour a bucket of sand over his head because he missed Hawaii. By now, Danny was sort of obligated to like Jackson. If only because it was habit.

Isaac though. Isaac had no real reason to like Jackson. Isaac had only ever known Jackson as a douche. Every now and then, Jackson wondered what Isaac saw in him that made him stick around. Maybe he really was just that lucky though, because he hadn’t just gotten Isaac out of the deal.

He’d gotten this huge family that loved him. Him. King Douche Extraordinaire.

He’d never tell anyone how humbled he felt because all these people loved him. He was a jerk, it was his default setting. He was okay with that, always had been. No point in changing that now. People liked him just the way he was.

He wasn’t an idiot. Jackson was really actually very smart when he felt like applying himself. He knew that without Stiles his whole world would have probably crumbled into dust the second the bite took. He was an arrogant S.O.B, not an idiot.

“What kind did Boyd say we should get?” he asked, staring at the array of candles lining the shelves halfway down the aisle in neat little color co-ordinated rows. His brow was furrowed together in that adorably confused frowny way that Isaac loved so much.

Isaac shrugged “I don’t know.”

“I don’t think he said. He just said get candles.” Danny was looking at the endcap display for the next aisle over. It was for cold medicine and had a motion sensor that sneezed at you every time you walked past it.

It had made made all three werewolves flinch and seize up the first time it happened. Danny was eyeing the display mistrustfully and Jackson could tell he was puzzling out where all the electronics were situated so that he could dismantle it in as little as thirty seconds.

He knew his best friend very well.

“Maybe we should get a variety” Isaac suggested. “Just in case he needs a specific color or something.”

“Are they supposed to be scented?” Jackson asked, carefully picking up a jarred candle with a lid. It was red and boasted that it was scented like spiced apples. He pried the lid off.

“Oh god.” Isaac jumped away from him and Danny backed out of the aisle. The cold medicine display sneezed at him for his trouble.

Jackson crammed the lid back on the jar as quickly as he’d pried it off, cracking the top. He hastily set the candle back on the shelf, but the damage was already done. The inside of his nose felt raw like he’d been sniffing something caustic and all he could smell was wax and granny smith. He looked up at Isaac with wide eyes, then immediately felt betrayed.

Isaac had tucked his hand into the sleeve of his cardigan and had it pressed over his mouth and nose.

Jackson could feel his eyes watering a little as he turned back to the candles. His eyes skimmed over the different shapes and sizes and labels. He could feel the panic rising up in his chest. “All of these are scented. Why are they all scented?!”

Isaac sidled up next to him, his own eyes on the candles. “I don’t know.”

“We should have gone to Wal-Mart” Jackson said.

“You’ve never set foot inside a Wal-Mart” Danny said from the cold display. His voice was accusing “You insisted we come here because you don’t know what kind of diseases an innocent werewolf could contract from a place like that.”

“I never said that!”

“I’m paraphrasing.”

“Guys, focus please” Isaac said. He held up a jumbo bag of little white tea lights with triumph. “I found the unscented ones.”

“Somehow” Jackson told him. “I don’t think that’s quite what Boyd had in mind when he told us to buy candles.”

“How many do you think we should get?” Isaac was ignoring Jackson. He was staring at the candles with trepidation.

“I don’t know” Jackson said. He reached out again and picked up a candle that said it was vanilla scented. It wasn’t in a jar, so he could already smell it. It wasn’t as strong as the first one, but it was still disgusting. It was warring with the too strong vanilla and soap scent coming off the newly shampooed carpets of the CVS they were in.

“I’ll get a cart” Isaac said, and walked away.

The clerk, Robin, was a year below them at school. Jackson recognized her because she went to all the lacrosse practices. She was dating one of the guys on the team and envied Lydia’s easy and disdainful way of dealing with the world. She looked up from her magazine when they got to the checkout counter and stared at them weirdly as three of the hottest boys in school started unloading their cart onto her counter.

There had to be at least sixty candles altogether. Slowly she started ringing them up as she watched the three boys look over the rack of candy bars shelved below the registers. When she reached the end and there were several bags of candles she rang up a bag of peanut m&ms, a mr goodbar and heath bar. Jackson swiped his credit card and the three boys left the pharmacy with the bags held out in front of them and their noses wrinkled.

Out of some sort of morbid curiosity (and no little amount of boredom) Robin headed back to the candle section. When she got there she stared for a second because the three boys had basically decimated the CVS’ supply of scented candles, but strangely enough the kind with the lids hadn’t been touched.

When she eventually turned around to head back to the register she had to stop and back up just be sure of what she heard.

The cold medicine display hiccuped at her again.

\- - -

Stiles was highly entertained. Disgusted, but entertained. Danny, Jackson and Isaac were walking around the Hale living room making a ring of all the candles they had brought home. It was a veritable rainbow of color and the scents were all jumbled up that she actually felt a little nauseous and the air had taken on that weird bubblegum smell that happened when too many smells intermingled.

“Wow. It looks like Danny threw up in here” Erica said from the door. She was holding a very large, heavy looking book for Boyd.

“Yes, because let’s all pin it on the flaming gay” Danny said in a deadpan voice that told her she was an idiot.

“You’ve been out the longest” she said with a shrug.

“Glass houses” Danny retorted, brandishing the lighter wand with the child safety mechanism most people bought for lighting their grills.

Erica waved his comment aside. “I am the best Pan you’ve ever met” she told him.

“Just because that’s true” Danny said as he began to light the candles, making the smell worse. “Doesn’t mean I’m the diva kind of gay.”

“I love you” Erica said.

“Is the scented thing going to matter?” Isaac asked Boyd, worry making him look more puppy-like than normal. “Were they supposed to be a single color? I’ll make Jackson go into Wal-Mart if we need different candles.”

Boyd waved a hand “It’s just a seance. We’re not actually casting a spell or anything. It doesn’t matter.”

“If it doesn’t matter, why do we even need candles?” Jackson demanded.

“It gives the person we’re trying to contact a focus” Peter said as he came into the room. “A light to guide them, so to speak.”

“Huh. That actually makes sense.”

“This is more like a bonfire that a lighthouse” Danny observed as he lit the last candle.

Across the room, Erica hit the switch and the overhead light turned off. When everyone turned to look at her she smiled prettily and said: “Ambiance.”

Peter sighed as Boyd pointed out the passage they would need. He pointed at the doorway “Everyone out, now.”

“What? Why?” Erica asked.

“Because if we are dealing with the Fates, the last thing we need is for them to think we’re planning to attack them” Peter explained. “So this is going to just be Stiles and I.”

“What are we supposed to do?”

“Go back to my house” Stiles suggested. “Scott wants to play werewolf Twister and then Monopoly.”

“You want us to go play board games?” Erica asked.

“Yes. Just avoid Hungry Hungry Hippos if you can and you’ll be fine.”

“What’s wrong with Hungry Hungry Hippos?” Isaac wondered.

“Scott is very mean” said Stiles. “Also, he cheats at Shoots and Ladders. And Candyland.”

“Oookay” said Jackson, then he followed the other three wolves and the Emissary to the front door.

Peter waited until he heard car door and engines starting to turn to look at the book. Stiles stood up from the couch and walked over to him. As the sound of the cars faded down the driveway Stiles slipped her hand into Peter’s.

Peter squeezed her palm “It’s going to be okay.”

“Yeah. Okay.” Stiles wasn’t sure it really was going to be okay, but Peter had earned her trust and faith, so she decided to believe him.

“Ready?” he asked her after a few minutes of silence.

“Ready.”

Peter nodded, turned to the book, and began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really, really couldn't resist this. I had a dream last night where the ending of this fic just laid itself out for me and I woke up wishing my evil cackle was better than it is.
> 
> Also, my new headcanon states that scented candles are horrifying to sensitive werewolf noses. Like dirty diaper horrifying. Scented candles are hit or miss for me. They're either soft and soothing or I stand there and wonder why anyone would want to smell something like that. I'm sharing my horror. ^_^
> 
> Luckily for you guys I'm still a nice person at heart and I'm not taking away the nice happy ending I had originally planned, I'm just giving everything a little twist in the method by which we reach said ending.


	90. Ninety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A seance.

**_Ninety:_ **

_“I’m talking to myself in two different personas now. I’m reaching for a full-throttle meltdown and why not? Why stop halfway? Why not just go for it, jump on and ride the wave?”_

_~ C.K. Kelly Martin, My Beating Teenage Heart ~_

There weren’t any flashing lights. No swirling mists or far off voices. One moment the circle of candles was empty, the next the strangely familiar man from before is standing before them. He looked highly surprised, then he looked ill.

“Are you okay?” is the first thing that popped out of Stiles’ mouth. It wasn’t what she meant to ask, but it was on her list, so she let it go.

He shakes his head “Nope.”

“Who are you?” Peter asked.

The guy looked at Peter for a few seconds, looking conflicted. “I’m Stiles. Or a version of Stiles” he said eventually.

“You’re me?” Stiles managed. “Like, if I was born male?”

Other Stiles nodded. He grinned, but there was no real light or joy behind it. It never reached his eyes. “Something like that.”

“I’m confused” Stiles doesn’t feel bad for saying it. Confused is something she had become very good friends with at a fairly young age.

Other Stiles sighed heavily. He looked very tired. Worn like he hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep in a long time. “Yeah, that’s my fault.”

“Is it?” Peter asked. His eyes were narrowed in thought.

“Why are you here?” Stiles asked. “We were expecting someone else. Someones. Other people, three of them.”

“The Fates.” Other Stiles looked down at the floor “I know.”

“Why are you here and not them?”

“Because I’ve got your answers. And I couldn’t not answer myself, you know?”

“...kinda.”

“Why is this happening?” Peter’s voice was soft. He had his thinking face on, like all the puzzle pieces were clicking into place and he wasn’t sure he liked the picture it was showing him.

Other Stiles looked up again. He met Peter’s gaze but there was nothing familiar there. Nothing that Peter saw in his Stiles’ eyes when he looked into them. Other Stiles looked over at Stiles and they stared at each other. The silence stretched on for an uncomfortable length of time. The clock in the hallway ticked into the silence. It seemed louder than usual, heavier.

When Stiles spoke it was in a voice that told Peter that she wasn’t sure she really wanted the answer to the question whirling around in her brain. She asked it anyway “What did you change?”

Other Stiles smiled. It was a rictus of Stiles’ usual mischievous grin. It made something in Peter’s chest clench painfully. “Everything” he said. “Well, I will be.”

“Will be?”

“The Fates are powerful beings, you know?” Other Stiles said. He drifted to the edge of the circle of candles, arms wrapped around himself. He looked sad. Sad in a way that Stiles hadn’t seen in the mirror since her mother died. “They always want something from you in return.”

“A price” said Peter.

Other Stiles nodded. He looked torn, “On the one hand there’s me. Stiles who is a boy and who is human. On the other hand there’s you, who’s a girl and is a werewolf.”

“We’re not the same person, are we?” Stiles asked. It was more of a statement than a question. “We’re both Stiles, but we’re not.”

Other Stiles nodded “We’re very smart. Sometimes too smart.”

“What happened?” Stiles asked him.

“Everyone died. One by one until all that was left was me and a pile of bones.”

“Why?”

“Because Peter didn’t have an anchor.”

Both Stiles and Peter paled. Other Stiles nodded. It had been Peter? Peter who had killed off the pack one by one like in Stiles’ dreams. Murdered each of them in ways that had left Stiles screaming for so long after waking.

They were both very aware of the monster lurking inside Peter. That broken piece of him that would never heal because the fire had taken it and twisted it, warping it beyond recognition. Peter would always be fractured. There would always be that beast inside him that would rather see the world painted in blood than let its pain and rage go.

“That night in the woods it wasn’t me that Peter bit.”

Stiles tried to stifle her gasp, but she couldn’t and it turned into more of a dry sob than anything else. “Scott.”

“Scott.” Other Stiles looked even more tired than before. “Scott who panicked and ran. He always hated being a werewolf. It took years for him to be okay with that part of himself. He was a True Alpha, you know. He hated it though.”

“What happened after Scott was bitten?” Peter asked. He didn’t want to know what he had done. He didn’t want to know, but he knew he needed to.

“You murdered nearly everyone that had anything to do with the fire” Other Stiles said. “Then you ripped Kate Argent’s throat out and we lit you on fire. You died, but you used Lydia’s being a Banshee to bring yourself back… You were worse, even more broken than before. You hid it really well, though.”

“I waited.” It was not a question.

Other Stiles nodded “Things happened in a different order. Eventually you became an Alpha again, and then all bets were off.”

“I saved you for last.”

Other Stiles smiled sadly. He looked distant, pained. Stiles knew then what he had done. He had researched his way out, just like she would have. Gone through every myth, every bit of lore he could get his hands on. Damn the consequences, damn the world. If he could change it, if he could bring just one of them back, he would do it.

He didn’t care what happened to himself. Not anymore.

This, everything. The last year (more) of their lives had been nothing but the Fates showing this other version of Stiles what would happen if he changed what happened that night that Scott was bitten by Peter. How changed everything would be.

“Is it worth it?” Stiles asked her other self softly. “Is what you’ve seen enough to make the change you’re asking them to help you make?”

Other Stiles smiled at her. His eyes were sad, but his smile was genuine. He didn’t need to say anything for her to understand. He was her after all. In any circumstance, male, female, gnome or fairy, Stiles was Stiles, and Stiles would always do anything and everything Stiles was capable of to protect the people that meant the most.

It was who she was, she had always known that.

Other Stiles faded away and Stiles turned to Peter. He pulled her into his arms and they held onto each other.

A version of Stiles that had never been (or would never be?) had made a choice to save them all. Had given them a chance to build up a pack, a family that was fifteen strong and would probably only grow as time went on. They were all (miraculously) alive.

“Do you think he’ll do it?” she asked.

“What do you think?” Peter replied.

“I think it’s a huge sacrifice. To not exist anymore.”

“You do exist.”

“Yeah. I do, but he doesn’t. I’m not the same as him.”

“Yes, you are” Peter pulled away enough to look her in the eyes. “You may be different, but you’re still Stiles. All the way down to the center of you, you would still make the same decision. You would have just gotten there a different way.”

Stiles nodded. He was right.

She would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *offers tissues and hides*
> 
> I made my beta cry, so....


	91. Ninety-One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An ending. And a beginning.

**_Ninety-One:_ **

_“It matters not how strait the gate,_

_How charged with punishments the scroll,_

_I am the master of my fate:_

_I am the captain of my soul.”_

_~ William Ernest Henley, Echoes of Life and Death ~_

Stiles was crying. He was on the ground on his hands and knees, his forehead pressed into the dirt, tears streaming down his face. His hands were clutching at fistfulls of fallen leaves as he gasped for air.

_“Do you see now, Goscislaw, what it is you ask of us?”_

Stiles gulped in a lungful of cold, damp air and struggled up onto his knees. He looked up at the Fates, eyes wet, but no longer crying. “Yes. I do.”

They weren’t evil. Stiles didn’t feel threatened. These three, tall, hooded figures that didn’t really seem to touch the ground. They stood before him in an arc, three women in three different faced, all as old as time. Maiden, Matron, Crone.

It was a miracle they had come at his asking at all. They were set so far apart from the world. They held the lifespan of every being that breathed in their hands. Stiles had never felt more insignificant in his life.

Yet, here they were, offering him exactly what he had asked for.

The price was heavy though.

To change his so much. To remake him in such a way as to cause him to cease to be and become someone else. Oh, he knew that at the end of the day that female version of him would still be Stiles Stilinski… but she also wouldn’t be.

Stiles would just… cease.

His entire physical being would change and he would forget everything and he wouldn’t be _him_ anymore. Not really.

_“What is your choice?”_

He looked back up at them. He hadn’t even realized he’d looked away. There wasn’t really a choice here. He’d already made it and nothing was going to change his mind. What they had shown him had only cemented the fact that he was doing the right thing.

Everything would be different. But it would be better, wouldn’t it? Sure they’d still face the bad stuff. Rogue Alphas and hunters. Kate and Gerard, the Darach. The Alpha Pack. The difference though was that at the end of each crisis they were _happy_. They were alive and together and Stiles was right, Scott was happier as a human than he ever was as a werewolf.

No matter how good of an Alpha he had turned out to be in the end.

“Do it” he said.

The Maiden nodded. _“We will rewind events. Take you to the moment where your choice will be made… but it will be up to you to be where you need to be. If you miss that moment. If you are not there in time, you will live with what you have wrought.”_

_“We will not aid you a second time.”_ said the Crone.

“I understand.”

There was a horrifyingly nauseating moment of confusion. The world shifted around him and blurred. The three figures draped in long dark robes winked out of sight and Stiles had the disorienting feeling that he was being shoved into something too small, only he wasn’t moving. He clawed vaguely at his chest for a second, breathing laboured as he tried to gain his bearings.

“Dude, are you okay?”

\- - -

_*fifteen minutes later*_

Stiles was sort of vaguely aware of the fact that he wasn’t actually in his body anymore. Well, it wasn’t really his anymore, was it? It was hers. He wondered briefly if it was always meant to be hers, but pushed the thought away. If it had always meant to be hers, then it would have been and none of this would have been necessary.

He wouldn’t have been him. He would have been her.

He was aware of the presence to his back. Knew they were waiting for him. Waiting to unmake him. They could wait though. They would wait. What was a few minutes to a being with infinity set before and behind them?

He watched, vaguely amused, as his dad grabbed Scott up by the scruff of his neck with that fondly exasperated look on his face that Stiles was actually really attached to. As Scott was marched out of the Preserve Stiles reached up toward inky black fur and gnashing teeth. Trembling, frightened fingers threaded through fur and a monster froze.

Stiles could feel those fangs in his side, like phantom pains. There but not there. He watched as Peter settled around the human girl he’d just bitten as she fell into unconsciousness and he knew he’d made the right choice.

He decided that the thing that settled on his shoulder was a hand because he didn’t want to think about what the Fates were really made up of. It was better for his sanity this way.

“Will I become part of her, or will I just cease?”

_“Nothing truly ceases, Goscislaw.”_

It kinda, sorta wasn’t really an answer, but he would take what he could get. He figured he wouldn’t really be around to know the difference anyway. He looked away from the wolf and the girl, squared his shoulders and looked up at the Matron.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

They turned and for a moment it looked like they were walking deeper into the woods, but then they vanished, as if they had never been. Perhaps they hadn’t, perhaps they had. Fate wasn’t really something you could measure out and give a true path to anyway.

Overhead the clouds drifted over the brightly shining moon as she headed toward fullness. On the ground, in the Beacon Hills Preserve a bond was beginning to form as wolf wrapped itself around the thing that would bring it back to sanity.

It was the start of a love that would last a lifetime, and maybe even beyond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there it is. That's it. That's the way it ends.
> 
> There will be a fluffy epilogue, but this is the end of the epic journey.
> 
> Also, yes, cookies to those who noticed that I copied and pasted that one paragraph directly from chapter one. ^_^


	92. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluffy epilogue, because.

**_Epilogue:_ **

_“I am like a falling star who has finally found her place next to another in a lovely constellation, where we will sparkle in the heavens forever.”_

_~ Amy Tan ~_

Stiles sighed and wiggled her foot in a lazy attempt at trying to get the hammock to sway. It was too heavy and her foot was more than a foot off the ground so it wasn’t like she could actually get any traction to get them going anyway.

Spring had sort of just appeared this year. One day it had been cold and rainy and the next it was sunny days and chirping birds. It was nice.

If she ignore the raised voices coming from the house.

Next to her, Peter growled grumpily. Stiles grinned and rolled onto her side and rucked up Peter’s shirt to scratch at his belly with the tips of her blunt fingernails. His eyes opened and he looked down at her with a lazy little grin.

There was a crash from the house and he huffed a sigh. It had been like this for days now. With finals and graduation rapidly approaching everyone seemed to have short tempers lately. Stiles was the exception, but that was only because she was the happiest metaphorical clam ever mentioned.

She stretched up and pressed a kiss to Peter’s jaw at the same time as she pressed how much she loved him against the mating bond they shared. A pleased rumble vibrated through the Alpha and Stiles would never admit (not even under pain of death) that he almost sounded like a big jungle cat purring when he did that.

Her eighteenth birthday had come and gone and now the Hale Pack had a fully Mated Alpha Pair at its head. Everyone kept complaining that they weren’t allowed to be so disgustingly happy all the time, but it wasn’t like either of them could help it.

“Maybe we should just elope” Stiles said softly into Peter’s neck.

He chuckled. That was the other thing that was driving everyone crazy. Stiles and Peter hadn’t just Bonded on her birthday, Peter had full on proposed. He’d taken her to La Rue for dinner in reminiscence of their first official date, gotten down on one knee in front of everyone in the restaurant (and two deputies peering through the front window) and asked her to marry him.

With her mother’s ring.

She’d cried and babbled out a yes between kisses.

So now every female (and Isaac for some reason) was not only dealing with the end of finals and graduation next week, but they all seemed to have caught wedding fever.

“You’d feel guilty if we did” Peter said.

“Yeah. I know” Stiles sighed. “Let’s get married barefoot right here in the back yard.”

Peter grinned in that way he did when he knew Stiles was digging her heels in and he just knew he’d end up wearing a flower crown at some point just because she’d want him to “Okay.”

“Okay.”

“You get to tell Lydia” he said.

Stiles slapped him on the arm and bit his neck and he growled and rolled so that she was pinned under him. The hammock swayed dangerously and she shrieked a laugh.

Up at the house the fighting paused for a second at the sound, then resumed with a kind of inevitable gusto that meant that everyone was happy and they were fighting just because they could.

The sun sank down toward the horizon painting the sky was blazing reds and vibrant oranges and pinks. Stiles and Peter settled down, wrapped up in each other. This was a good life, and it would continue on.

_.end. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it folks. Six months to the day since I started posting this fic, and we've reached the end of our journey.


End file.
